YAHUAHS True Shabbat / Sabbath Day

The day of Resurrection of YAHUAHsha the firstfruit of all. It purges out all the leavened bread of malice in the hearts of those who repent from their foolishness, in order to receive the baptism of Kodosh Spirit he first fruits of His resurrection

PROLOGUE

There is a reason for this writer to use the pseudonym pen name Emet ZeraYahu. An author’s name can detract from the message the he or she is presenting. The evidence should stand or fall on its own merit as presented without its usefulness being mitigated or limited by the name of the author.

I do not claim to have a corner on truth, but I do claim an honest and intensive pursuit of truth, believing that truth is absolute and stands alone as the goal of anyone in a righteous pursuit of the Almighty’s Word. What is really at stake in the pursuit of truth is the right to claim knowledge. It is with knowledge that we can ultimately act upon the Creator’s truth.

“To the Law and to the Testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” (Isaiahiah. 8:20). Think about that! Light is a synonym for truth, but truth must be supported by Scripture, and we must search the Scriptures to turn truth into light.

My firm objective is to present facts, postulates and theorems that are supported by Scripture. Postulates and theorems must be proven by Scripture and sometimes by historical evidence before becoming fact.

“Howbeit when She, the Spirit of truth, is come, She will guide you into all truth:” (John. 16:13). It is YAHUAH’s Set Apart Spirit of Truth that will confirm knowledge with understanding, thereby turning it into light.

I encourage you the reader to closely examine the content herein and prove everything set forth. Even if you find that I have made errors or you do not agree with my conclusions, send me an E-mail outlining your concerns. Your concerns may reflect the concerns of others and together we can improve this work. Your faith will be stronger for having made the effort. YAHUAH will bless our common pursuit of His truth.

1] The English transliteration with vowels added to the Tetragrammaton YHWH. In earliest English, before the ‘J’ and ‘Y’ were added to the Anglo Saxon alphabet, it was written as ‘Iahuah’ and phonetically pronounced Ee-ahoo-ah. Therefore, the most likely English transliteration, using the modern alphabet, is YAHUAH.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

There are a few people who have been an enormous help in launching this study. These individuals are the ones whose ideas form a part of the path leading to the things set forth here.

In memorial, thanks for the work of the late Fred Steed of Tasmania, for thinking and writing outside of the tradition box that encloses so many writers. His postings jolted me into realizing that there are many avenues to explore in a quest for truth. Most of them are outside of a self imposed limit to conventional approaches mostly centered on traditions.

Thanks to Myron Martin of Ontario, Canada and Gary Miller of Pocahontas, Arkansas for providing the evidence that Sunset is not the beginning of a day. I am grateful to Kenneth and Pamela Vance whose dedication to the pursuit of truth shows through in their many articles. They will recognize an abundance of their precepts threaded into the fabric of this work.

A priceless treasure has been the daily support of my beloved wife Sharon who patiently listened to my enthusiastic reports of progress, and has steadfastly encouraged me to complete the task.

INTRODUCTION

The Heavens declare the esteem of YAHUAH; and the firmament shows his handiwork. Day unto day utters speech and night unto night shows knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the Earth and their words to the end of the world. In them has He set a tabernacle for the Sun,” (Ps.19:1-5).

If men will look up into the Heavens above, they can receive a message that needs no interpreter. Every night men walk under a canopy of Stars spread out in a great circle that reveals the magnificent plan of our Creator “It is He, who sits above the circle of the Earth, ….who stretches out the Heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;” (Isaiah. 40:22).

Almost everyone is unaware that the story of the serpent’s deception of Eve, and his ultimate defeat at the end of the age, is written in its entirety in a time sequence where all of mankind can see, but none can tamper with it.

The Creator’s display of His plan does not mean that we must become experts in astronomy, but neither do we have to surrender the lights in the Heavens to Satan, who tampers with them through the deception of astrology. He pollutes truth with a weekly Hebdomad containing days named after pagan gods. Just know that the real plan is permanently secure in the Heavens.

In the inspired account of creation, the book of Genesis records that the Creator gave some very special revelations to Adam. After his fall, Adam received knowledge about YAHUAH’s plan for the redemption of the first man and his progeny through the seed of Eve.

Eloah said to the serpent: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Gen. 3:15).

What Adam knew about YAHUAH’s plan, the subsequent offspring would have known also. Seth and Enoch, as friends and prophets of the Almighty, would have been recipients of the special knowledge. The life of these two men spanned a thousand years, giving them ample time to observe, study, and pass the knowledge to Enoch’s great grandson, Noah, whom also walked with Eloah (Cf. Gen. 6:9), and was recipient of the knowledge:

“And after that my great-grandfather Enoch gave me all the secrets in the book and in the parables which had been given to him, and he put them together for me in the words of the book of the parables.” (Enoch 68:1).

There should not be the slightest doubt that these men developed the celestial maps depicting the Heavenly lights that our Creator arrayed in the visible expanse of Heaven, and in the lighted night sky.

Accordingly, Enoch is listed in the Honor Roll of Faith as an example of the heroes that were well pleasing to the Almighty:

“By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because YAHUAH had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased YAHUAH” (Heb. 11:5).

Enoch, of the seventh generation after Adam, was the architect of mapping the Creator’s calendar for man; he lived exactly 365 years, the precise number of days in a solar year. Enoch’s knowledge of how the Creator has arranged His creation days reveals the real meaning of the title ‘Ancient of Days’. The fact that Enoch pleased YAHUAH should cause us to pay close attention to what he has to say.

The study of the Heavenly lights was Enoch’s special assignment under the tutoring of an angel: “…which Uriel, the Set Apart angel who was with me, explained to me…” (Enoch 71:1). The Book of Enoch is a treasury of information on how the Creator’s timepiece in the sky really works. Since the re-discovery of Enoch’s written work in Ethiopia, and its subsequent translation to English, the true Creator’s calendar has been right under our noses. It is now time to learn about this special knowledge by overcoming the obstacles that has been placed in the way.

2 In the first few centuries of the Common Era, literature is filled with references to this mysterious book. The second century “Epistle of Barnabus” makes much use of the Book of Enoch. Second and Third Century writers like Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Origin and Clement of Alexandria all make use of the Book of Enoch. Tertullian (160-230 C.E) even called the Book of Enoch “Set Apart Scripture”. The Ethiopic assemblies added the Book of Enoch to the official canon. Yahusha quoted Enoch and it was widely known and read in the first three centuries after Messiah.

The study of the Stars and constellations is rarely addressed by modern teachers or preachers of prophecy because of its association with astrology. Some even label such teaching as paganism or the doctrine of witchcraft, and point to astrology as proof that it is demonic in nature. Little do they realize that every time they utter the name of a week day on the modern calendar, they are using the name of a pagan Deity.

Indeed, the Scriptures do warn us about the black arts of soothsayers, clairvoyants, and fortune tellers. However, it is the wrongful use of the Heavenly luminaries that the Scriptures condemn, not the rightful use thereof. Our Creator has commanded us not to worship any of His creation, but to worship Him alone as He has commanded in the first commandment. Lucifer, with the demons in his control, has always attempted to mimic YAHUAH’s truth by merging truth with lies, thereby making the lie more difficult to detect. Astrology is just such a perversion of the Creator’s great plan in the Heavens.

Astronomy is a science, but astrology is a belief system in Satan’s counterfeit plan. He converts the ancient meanings of the constellations into pagan legends with a prideful appeal to self centered interests. The system portends to set forth ‘life forecasting’ by addressing an ‘internal clock’ that supposedly was set by star alignment at the moment of birth.

Astrology encourages the use of this information to guide (control) ones own life. With the assumed power to do one’s own thing, one is his/her own god whom does not need the Almighty One. Such evil activity was condemned by the prophet:

“Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.” (Isaiah. 47:12).

Satan is very adept at deception, and astrology is one of his most subtle mimicking of the true plan in the sky above.

Astrology development began at the Tower of Babel and spread under Nimrod’s rule to the centers of the mystery religions in Babylon and Egypt. All civilized cultures on Earth have adopted one form or another of the pagan deitie’s arising from astrology. Modern calendars use adopted names that have roots in the pagan Hebdomad of Babylonian astrology.

Even the creation week has been polluted with the Sunday through Saturday appellations that are based on celestial deities derived from the false science of astrology. These are the very names that we have been warned to avoid.

“That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their Eloah, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them:” (Josh. 23:7).

Every modern calendar uses these same forbidden names of false deitie’s. Joshua was speaking to ancient Yisrael, but subsequent generations have not listened to his instruction. The record shows that even the leaders of Yisrael in Yahusha’s day were using the forbidden names. Stephen said in his trial before the Sanhedrin:

“Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your mighty one Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them:” (Acts 7:43).

Remphan is the Syrian name for Saturn, the star-god Saturn, which is Saturday on modern calendars. Stephen was quoting from the prophet Amos:

“But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chi-un your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.” (Amos 5:26)

Stephen made the connection to the leaders of Yisrael in his day:

“Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Ruwach ha Qodosh: as your fathers did, so do ye.” (Acts 7:51).

Let us be clear! Stephen accused the religious leaders in his day of worshiping the Babylonian pagan deity that is connected to Saturn-day, Saturday Sabbath.

The Sanhedrin was using a lunar/solar calendar system based on astrology, and probably was in the process of yielding to Roman pressure to switch to a weekly repetitive calendar. Where did Stephen get that knowledge? His source would have to be from the apostles, whom in turn learned it from Yahusha Messiah, would it not?

To this day, calendar names arising out of astrology are used to set days of worship in defiance of YAHUAH’s command: “And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other Deities, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.” (Ex. 23:13).

Christianity uses the day of the Sun, Sunday. Jews and Messianic congregations use Saturn-day, Saturday, and Muslims honor Venus on Friday.

Pay attention people! Wake up Christian and Messianic congregations!

The Mishnah, Talmud, and Kabala declare the traditions of their fathers to be higher than Torah. They do away with the Scriptures and demand that Jews live by the polluting traditions rooted in Babylon.

Satan has usurped the purpose of the creation lights to conceal knowledge of YAHUAH’s great plan for the redemption of mankind. The huge deception is everywhere among all people on Earth, but the truth is manifest to those with the wisdom to discern our Creator’s plan written in the Heavens.

“And it shall come to pass, that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, says YAHUAH.” (Isaiah. 66:23).

LIGHT AND DARKNESS

The Source of Light

“Thus says YAHUAH, which gives the Sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the Moon and of the Stars for a light by night, which divides the sea when the waves thereof roar; YAHUAH of Hosts is His Name:” (Jeremiah. 31:35).

It is clear that the Heavenly lights work in unison to accomplish their purpose in the Creator’s plan. If the luminaries are a means of revealing truth, then it is our responsibility to pursue that avenue to find the truth by using Jeremiah’s recommended source for light.

In the above quote from Jeremiah, notice that the lights of the night sky are said to be ordinances. An ordinance is an established rule of law within a statute, confirming that the Torah is the main source of truth about the lights of creation.

“And Eloah made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the Stars also.” (Gen. 1:16).

The words ‘he made’ are not in the Hebrew text. The added words give the impression that the Moon is the lesser of the two great lights with the Stars as an after Thought. Neither is the word ‘also’ in the Hebrew text. Leaving those words out that do not appear in the Hebrew, the verse reads as follows:

“And Eloah made the two great luminaries, the great luminary for the rule of the day, and the small luminary, and the Stars, for the rule of the night;” (Gen. 1:16, YLT).

That leaves the impression that the lesser light rules the night with the Stars and the Stars are the least of the three lights with the Moon as one of the two great lights. The Sun is to rule the day and the moon is to rule the night.

The Sun produces light, but the Moon can only receive light, reflecting it back to the darkened side of the Earth where the lunation can be observed from Earth at night. The Moon then, is not a source of light, but plays a secondary role to the Sun in the night sky.

The Stars, like the Sun, are light sources, but the Stars are visible only at night, and are assigned a significant, but less of a visible role in YAHUAH’s plan for the ages. Are these not clues that it is possible to visibly confirm truth we learn from the Scriptures?

It is something to keep in mind as we seek knowledge about YAHUAH’s timepiece in the sky. Enoch addressed the role of the lesser light:

“After this law I beheld another law of an inferior luminary, the name of which is the Moon, and the orb of which is as the orb of Heaven.” (Enoch 72:1).

From Darkness to Light

“In the beginning Eloah created the Heaven and the Earth. And the Earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of Eloah moved upon the face of the waters.” (Gen. 1:1-2).

Darkness existed before light in the creation process. Darkness is the absence of light, and it is light that is said to be good: “And Eloah saw the light, that it was good:” (Gen. 1:4).

We each have come to the knowledge of good (light) and evil (darkness). We have no alternative but to choose between light and darkness, because our parents selected those options for us at Eden. The choice has eternal implications. The principle of darkness preceding light is confirmed as each of the creation days one through six in Genesis One concludes with:

“and there was evening and there was morning”.

It does not say that it was night and then day, rather day came to an end followed by the end of night at dawn, placing a figurative hedge around night.

Please notice that the evening and morning statement is not made in connection with the seventh day Sabbath. (Cf. Gen. 2:1-3). Since Adam, we have been immersed in 6,000 years of darkness that precedes YAHUAH’s Kingdom on Earth. As in the creation, the present darkness will be followed by light in the Millennium.

The symbolism of dark and light cannot be by chance, for it is written in the Heavens above as a witness to every human that has ever lived. Scripture repeatedly uses the symbolism of dark and light to reveal truth to those in pursuit of righteousness. If truth (light) exposes darkness, it must also be a form of light, and it is light that is good and points the way to righteousness.

So, let us embark on a discovery search. We shall look for how YAHUAH’s truth is written by the luminaries above where no man can tamper with them.

THE HEAVENS DECLARE

Astronomy 101

Although we do not have to become astronomers to understand the Creator’s calendar, we should know a few basics that explain how the Heavenly lights work together with the Earth to set seasons, days, months and years. The basics help to reveal the awesome workings of the Creator’s timepiece in space.

As the Earth orbits around the Sun over the course of a year, it tracks out a 360 degree circle along an annually repeated path called the Ecliptic Plane by astronomers. Isaiah described the Ecliptic:

“It is He, who sits above the circle of the Earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the Heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;”

(Isaiah. 40:22).

The prophet has described the houses of the Sun on the Ecliptic Plane. Visualize the orbits of the planets as a flat plane like a huge disk around the Sun, which is sometimes referred to as the plane of the ecliptic. The other planets in our solar system are always near the Ecliptic. In other words, our solar system is rather flat, with all the major parts orbiting in nearly the same plane.

Relative to the Ecliptic, the Earth spins on its axis tilted at a 23.5 angle as it orbits the Sun. As Earth orbits the Sun, it is the tilt that causes the change of seasons at the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. The equinoxes are the points on Earth that mark the annual time when day and night are of equal length at twelve hours each.

As the Sun appears to be over the equator at the vernal (spring) equinox, the days grow longer in the northern hemisphere and shorter in the southern hemisphere. The autumnal equinox reverses the seasons to shorter days north and longer days south of the equator.

The Ecliptic Plane extends beyond our universe out to the star groups called constellations. Astronomers associate the Ecliptic Plane with mapping of the constellations, and like all maps, symbols are used to convey time locations, in this case, time related cycles applicable to Earth. The named symbols represent thirty degree segments of the three hundred sixty degree Ecliptic Plane; therefore, there are twelve symbols for the houses of the Sun as follows:

The twelve signs of the constellations on the Ecliptic Plane are commonly known as the Zodiac in Hebrew it is called Mazzeroth, (Cf. Job 38:31) representing the twelve houses of the Sun on astronomical maps and charts. The twelve signs are selected out of a total of eighty eight star patterns, but the Sun only passes through twelve of the major constellations.

The signs on the Ecliptic Plane represent twelve time segments of the solar year. Thirty degrees represents one solar month on the Ecliptic Plane. There is a thirteenth sign that is perpendicular to the Ecliptic Plane on Earth’s polar axis.

Teachers seldom mention the constellation Draco in relation to Earth, but there is significant Scriptural support for it in connection with the woman of Revelation, chapter twelve, but more about the Serpent of Old later.

Of course, the two main light sources as viewed from Earth are the Sun and Stars as constant light sources that separate night and day. However, the Sun and the full Moon are the main luminaries of the day and night skies as stated by Enoch when comparing them in their respective realms when the Moon is full:

“In the circumference of the Sun there are seven portions of light which are added to it more than the Moon.”(Enoch 78:3-4).

The Moon has built in characteristics in relation to Earth that cannot be ignored. According to astronomy expert James Dwyer www.creation-answers.com the Earth and Moon interface every forty nine days, and interrelate with the number 7 squared, or 49, in an array of unmistakable evidence that points to a calendar related to the creation account of Genesis, chapter one.

Such evidence should cause the inquiry of every serious student of the Scriptures. The reader is encouraged to visit James Dwyer’s website where there is a wealth of astronomical data. Mr. Dwyer provides an abundance of well organized information that is highly suitable for novice astronomers and anyone else in pursuit of knowledge about the heavenly lights in the sky above.

A Symbolic Calendar

“And there appeared a great wonder in Heaven; a woman clothed with the Sun and the Moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of twelve Stars:” (Rev. 12:1).

This sign in Heaven illustrates the woman’s victory over all the false calendars that have divided YAHUAH’s people heretofore. Through much birthing pain, this woman is about to give birth to a man-child.

“And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.” “And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron,” (Rev. 12:2 & 5).

She is represented on astronomical maps of the Ecliptic Plane in the constellation Virgo. She passes through the Sun in the autumn and is often portrayed on astronomical maps holding two sheaves of wheat in her arms, because she represents the constellation that arrives after the harvest season.

Selected key words from Revelation 12:1 serves to expand our understanding of the woman’s calendar features by using Strong’s Concordance:

Wonder, Gr. semeion-4592, “neuter of a presumed derivative of the base of 4591; an indication, especially ceremonially or supernaturally:–miracle, sign, token, wonder.”

Clothed, Gr. periballo – 4016, “throw all around, put on.” This woman uses the Sun as light (a synonym for truth, righteousness) and wears it as esteem to her Creator. The Sun lights the Earth (the woman) as it spins on its axis.

Sun, Gr. Helios – 2246, “the rays of the Sun, the light of day.” Moon, Gr. Selene – 4582, “brilliancy, attractiveness.” This describes the Moon as it is when it is a full Moon that only occurs one day each month.

Feet, Gr. pous – 4228, “a foot, often in the orient, one put his foot on the vanquished, of disciples listening to their teacher’s instructions are said to be at his feet.” She stands above the full Moon and is victorious over the Moon controversy.

Crown, Gr. stephanos – 4735, “from an apparently primary stepho (to

twine or wreathe); a chaplet (as a badge of royalty), a prize in the public games or a symbol of honor generally; but more conspicuous and elaborate than the simple fillet, 1238), literally or figuratively:–crown.”

Twelve, Gr. dodeka -1427, “from 1417 and 1176; two and ten, i.e. a

dozen:–twelve.” Our first clue that that the crown relates to the signs on the Ecliptic Plane.

Stars, Gr. aster – 792 “probably from the base of 4766; a star (as strewn over the sky), literally or figuratively:–star.” Twelve selected symbols of Heaven representing the twelve calendar months on the Ecliptic Plane.

The woman has departed Egypt and emerged from her rebellion in the wilderness to conquer Jericho the Moon City. Her victory is symbolically represented by the constellation Virgo. Her crown of Stars is the mystery of Mazzaroth: “Canst you bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst you bring forth Mazzaroth in his season?” (Job 38:31).

She is positioned between the primary luminaries when the earth is clothed with the Sun on one side, and the Moon is under her feet on the opposite side.

That astronomical condition can only happen one day a month when the Moon is full and rises on the eastern horizon as the Sun is setting on the western horizon, and the Stars begin to appear. The unified glows on the horizons signals the end of a month, with a new month starting the next day.

The woman, accompanied by the lights of the fourth day of creation, is a symbolic calendar, which can be our guide to learning the details of YAHUAH’s solar powered timepiece in the sky. Our goal is an observable calendar that can be used to determine the Creator’s true Sabbaths and Set Apart Feasts.

Draco, Serpent of Old

There is yet another wonder in Heaven connected to the woman about to give birth to a man-child. This new wonder represents the enemy of old that has caused the false calendars to prevail among YAHUAH’s people, and he is angry that her discovery of the true calendar is about to expose him:

“And there appeared another wonder in Heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the Stars of Heaven, and did cast them to the Earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.” (Rev. 12:3-4).

This wonder (sign) in Heaven is represented by the astronomical symbol for the circumpolar constellation Draco the red dragon. He is the ancient serpent of deception in the Garden of Eden. (Cf. Rev. 20:2). The constellation is a circumpolar because it is in a galaxy that revolves around the center line of the North Pole above the Ecliptic Plane.

His seven heads represent his great wisdom, and the ten horns with seven crowns, his enormous power. The Devourer is about to unleash his followers (the third part of the Stars) in a demonic frenzy of persecution on the woman’s man-child as soon as it is born. The man child becomes the Zion people of YAHUAH, whom will have learned of His solar powered calendar in the sky. This is the time of Jacob’s trouble that Yahusha related to His disciples:

“But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for My Names sake.” (Luke. 21:12).

The persecution will be widespread with vicious accusations against YAHUAH’s people by deceived zealots of the strong delusion. These are willing pawns of leaders who will declare righteousness to be a hate crime, calling good to be evil and evil to be good.

Many will suffer official punishment, imprisonment, and even death. Most will fail and yield to their antagonists, but a few will have prepared for the onslaught:

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” (Rev. 12:11).

Overcoming by the blood of the Lamb recalls that first Passover when Yisrael was preparing to depart from Egypt. That night, they were sealed in their homes behind their blood-marked doors and escaped to safety the next day.

They were protected and redeemed by the sacrificial blood. The overcoming Zion people will escape the same way. They will be protected by the sealing Passover blood of the Lamb.

The overcoming Zion people will escape from the dragon during this time of Jacob’s trouble or tribulation:

“And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of YAHUAH that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.” (Rev. 12:6).

WITNESS OF THE STARS

The Mystery of Mazzaroth

“Canst you bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst you bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? Or canst you guide Arcturus with his sons? Knows you the ordinances of Heaven? Canst you set the dominion thereof in the earth?” (Job 38:31-33).

The Hebrew word ‘Mazzaroth’ is the plural of Mazzarah, meaning a light in the sky. Mazzaroth then’, means ‘lights in the sky’ or ‘many lights in the sky’. Job’s reference to the constellations Pleiades, Orion and Arcturus in connection with Mazzaroth is proof the Ancients knew of the Ecliptic Plane and the apparent spinning wheel of Stars rotating around in a wheel like fashion. Furthermore, Job acknowledges that these are “ordinances of Heaven”.

Job did not refer to all twelve constellations, but their connection to the light of Stars offers strong evidence that the crown of twelve Stars on the woman of Revelation 12:1 represent these same lights. Her crown represents the ordinances of Heaven.

“And there appeared a great wonder in Heaven; a woman clothed with the Sun, and the Moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of twelve Stars:” (Rev. 12:1).

Job’s reference parallels Isaiah’s reference to our Creator “Who stretches out the Heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;” (Isaiah. 40:22).

It is dramatic proof from the Stars that there is a Creator, and that He designed the lights of Heaven for a purpose. Thus, when we see the lights of the Mazzaroth (Latin, Zodiacus) connected to the ordinance of seasons, we can clearly see that it utilizes the true science of Astronomy, not the false science of Astrology.

The Ecliptic Plane (Mazzaroth) is a moving timepiece that points out the annual seasons in a precise and systematic way. Seasons, (Heb.

Moadim) for determination of the yearly times of YAHUAH’s Set Apart feasts that are then regulated by the Sun and Moon.

The Purpose of the Lights

“And Eloah said, let there be lights in the firmament of the Heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:” (Gen. 1:14).

Signs, Heb. ‘Owth – 226, “probably from 225 (in the sense of appearing); a signal (literally or figuratively), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, etc.:–mark, miracle, (en-) sign, token.” The lights that serve as signs can only be the houses of the Sun, constellations, and the Stars.

Seasons, Heb. mow`ed – 4150, “from 3259; properly, an appointment, i.e. a fixed time or season; specifically, a festival; conventionally a year; by implication, an assembly (as convened for a definite purpose); technically the congregation; by extension, the place of meeting; also a signal (as appointed beforehand):–

appointed (sign, time), (place of, solemn) assembly, congregation, (set, solemn) feast, (appointed, due) season, solemn(-ity), synagogue, (set) time (appointed).” The houses of the Sun are used for seasons with three constellations designated for each 90 degree segment.

One can study the Stars and identify the broad definition of a season, but the Moon defines the details of the seasons. Conversely, one cannot look at the Sun and identify the current season.

Days, Heb. Yowm – 3117, “from an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from Sunrise to Sunset, or from one Sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term).” The Sun can be used to count days throughout the year, but the Moon can only count days within a lunation.

Years, Heb. shaneh – 8141, from 8138; “a year (as a revolution of time):–+ whole age, X long, + old, year(X -ly).” The Sun can be used for years, for example, when vernal equinox returns to vernal equinox, one year has passed. The Stars can be used for years when a house of the Sun (constellation) returns to its present position annually. The phases of the Moon predict positions of the Sun over a solar year.

A Creation Day

The Sabbath is kept by Jews and Christians alike from sunset to sunset, not sunrise to sunrise. This practice by Jews according to authorities, has only been since their Babylonian exile, when they also began to start the year from the seventh month (autumn) instead of the spring.

“And Eloah called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.” (Gen. 1:5).

Day: (S-3117) Yowm, Yome – To be hot, as in warm hours from sunrise to sunset.

Morning: (S-1242) Boqer, Dawn as the break of day Light is day! Day is light! The absence of light is what darkness is! To put it another way: Light is the absence of darkness!

So, when He called light Day, it cannot include darkness because darkness is an antonym for light, the opposite in meaning. It is the defining description direct from Scripture! Without arbitrary assumptions, day cannot include darkness because He separated them by calling light day and darkness night.

With that in mind, read the fourth Commandment in a new light:

“Six days shall you labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of YAHUAH thy Eloah: in it you shall not do any work, you, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:” (Ex.20:9.10).

The same word for ‘day’ (Heb., Yowm) is used in the fourth commandment, therefore, the Sabbath Day is a day of Light that does not include darkness because He separated them by the definitions Day and Night.

From the first day, YAHUAH gave the appellation ‘Day’ (Heb. ‘Yowm’) to His light, but darkness He called ‘Night’ (Heb.‘Layil’), because He had divided His light from the already existing darkness. (Cf. Gen 1:4). These are the words YAHUAH gave to us as He saw the light He had created and called it good.

And Eloah saw the light, that it was good: and Eloah divided the light from the darkness.” (Gen. 1:4).

‘Divided’ is a key word. What does it mean? On day four, YAHUAH declared that dividing the light was good (Cf. Gen. 1:18), but on none of the creation days did He say that darkness was good. Light is absent in darkness disqualifying it for designation as good.

In the Hebrew text, the word ‘divided’ (Heb. badal) is in the form of a causative verb, meaning YAHUAH caused something to happen which separated the light from the darkness. The separation of light from darkness reveals a major benefit of the Creator’s light. Since light is the absence of darkness, one must be aware of the separating power of light.

“And the light shines in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not”. (John. 1:5).

After day one of the creation, the one element that is common to all of YAHUAH’s creation is His light that is kept separate from darkness in a unique process. The Day/Night names apply specifically to Planet Earth, because the Earth’s rotation alternately reveals light and darkness as separated on opposite surfaces, making the Day/Night designations a creation fact.

Evening and morning mark out the beginning and end of darkness, which cannot represent a full day/night cycle. As the Earth spins on its axis in a counter-clockwise motion, west to east, evening and morning occur precisely at the same moment in time on opposite sides of the globe.

Thus, evening and morning are not successive as we normally think of them on a solar day. We view a solar day from a fixed position on Earth with dawn followed by daylight, and the subsequent evening leading into darkness. Thus, we are inclined to think of a day as a 24 hour successive cycle.

However, if we could view Earth from space as it spins from west to east; we could observe YAHUAH’s Day in progress. First light appears just before dawn at Sunrise on one side of the planet, while 180 degrees to the west, dusk signals the approaching darkness of Night on the opposite side of the Earth.

The evening and morning are equidistant on each of the sides, whether measured on the dark side or on the lighted side. Thus Day can just as easily be described similarly to the way that YAHUAH defined light as separated from darkness:

“And Eloah called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.” (Gen. 1:5).

The 24 Hour Day

Now, we must acknowledge that the word ‘day’ as translated from the Hebrew word ‘yowm’ does have two applications that depend on the context in which it is used.

The word can mean the daylight portion from Sunrise to Sunset, but it can also include the night portion with the daylight portion, describing a successive day/night 24 hour day.

An outstanding example of Scripture’s day/night, twenty four hour Day/Yom, is found in the account of the first Passover.

“In the fourteenth day (yowm) of the first month at even is YAHUAH’s Passover” (Leviticus. 23:5).

On that fourteenth day the Passover lamb was killed between the evenings in the late afternoon, but the memorial itself started in the evening. An offering must be consumed on the very same day on which the sacrifice is slaughtered, the Torah states

“on the same day it shall be eaten, ye shall leave none of it till the morning” (Leviticus. 22:30)

Which directly indicates that the day comes to an end on the next morning because the lamb was consumed that night. The entire Passover was on the 14th Day/Yom Sunrise to Sunrise. To deny that Passover occurred on any other day is a blatant denial of the facts of Scripture for remembering the exact memorial.

“And this day shall be unto you for a memorial;” (Exodus. 12:14).

The next day, Yisrael departed Egypt at dawn on the 15th day of the first month.

“And they departed from Ramses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the Passover the children of Yisrael went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians.” (Numbers. 33:3).

The ‘morrow after the Passover’ could only be the following day, the first day of Unleavened Bread, or the fifteenth day of the first month, which had to begin at Sunrise. The entire Passover occupied the day, evening and night hours of the fourteenth day of the first month, Sunrise to Sunrise.

The Genesis account of the creation week spells it out:

“the evening and morning were the fourth day.” (Gen. 1:19).

If the fourth day of creation ended in the morning, which is what it says, then all of the creation days end in the morning. So, when does the following day start? Of course! The next day starts as all days do, in the morning. What is evening? Answer: It is the end of day. What is morning? Answer: It is the beginning of day.

Conversely, one could say that evening is the beginning of night darkness and morning is the end of night darkness. Either way, it is a figurative fence around darkness. Advisory! Don’t cross the fence unless the text says to cross the fence!

The Beginning of Day

One more bit of evidence that a day in Scripture never begins in the evening. Consider these passages about “tomorrow”:

“And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening.” (Exodus. 18:13).

“Saul also sent messengers unto David’s house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, If you save not thy life to night, tomorrow you shall be slain.” (1 Samuel. 19:11).

“In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women,” (Esther 2:14).

The Apostolic Day

The following Scripture references show clearly that the followers of Yahusha did not use the sunset to sunset day:

“Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun was risen” (Mark. 16:2).

How could it be early if the day started at sunset or midnight? If it were sunset, then the day would have been half over and it would not be early.

“Now late on the Sabbath day, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.” (Matthew. 28:1).

If it is late on the Sabbath day at dawn of the next day, then the Sabbath must have started at the previous dawn.

“Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.” (Luke 24:1).

Luke said it was early in the morning of the first day of the week, then the Sabbath must have ended a few minutes before. Obviously, Luke considered that it was a sunrise to sunrise day.

“The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher, and sees the stone taken away from the sepulcher.” (John. 20:1).

John said it was early on the first day of the week before sunup. Therefore, the seventh day was ending as the first day was beginning. It was a sunrise to sunrise day.

Conclusion

The Sun extends its rule after the day (light) by the lesser lights of the Moon and Stars. Every day (light) starts at dawn and ends at evening, but the full day and night ends at the following dawn.

The sunset to sunset day tradition is a flagrant violation of a simple truth, which is a deserving target of Isaiah’s warning: “Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah. 5:20).

You cannot mingle light with darkness in the pursuit of truth (light). Separate them and truth will be revealed.

“This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that YAHUAH is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” (1 John. 1:5).

“Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.” (1 Thessalonians. 5:5).

SIGNS, SEASONS, DAYS AND YEARS

“And Eloah said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the Heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:” (Genesis. 1:14).

In his book about the “revolutions of the luminaries of Heaven”, Enoch described six segments on the eastern and western horizons that he called “Gates”.

“I beheld the gates whence the Sun goes forth; and the gates where the Sun sets: in which also the Moon rises and sets; and I beheld the conductors of the Stars, among those who precede them; six gates were at the rising, six at the setting of the Sun.” (Enoch 71:3-4).

The six gates are said to be preceded by ‘conductors of the Stars’, a reference to the Mazzaroth (Cf. Job 38:31) and the houses of the Sun that represent the months as they occur throughout the year. The six segments on the east and west horizons also contain portals that Enoch called ‘windows’, where the Sun and Moon rise and set to allocate their lights to each day of a month over a period of six months.

The Sun precedes the Moon which follows in the path allotted to it. These are the portals that prepare the way for the separate lunation segments that makeup the shorter lunar year of 354 days. The gates on the eastern horizon are where the Sun and Moon portals enter each morning, while the western gates are where they exit through the opposite portal each evening.

Six gates represent six months within half of a solar year, then duplicated, but in reverse order, for a second six month period. Thus, the year is divided into two six month halves. Enoch starts with the first half in an ascending order, gates one through six.

It would seem logical that the year would start at the northern most gate as the beginning of a solar year. That is where Babylon’s calendar starts in January. Not so, says Enoch! The year starts in the fourth gate which he says has 30 days:

“In the same manner it (the Sun) goes forth in the first month by the great gate. It goes forth through the fourth of those six gates, which are at the rising of the Sun.” (Enoch 71:9-10).

Enoch also gives us the added information that in this first month “At that period the day is made equal with the night; and, being equal with it, the night becomes nine parts, and the day nine parts.” (Enoch 71:25).

This confirms that the Earth has passed the point where the old year has ended at the spring equinox when day and night are of equal length. The astronomical sign that introduces this first month is the constellation Aries, depicted on maps as a sheep or a ram.

In the following fifth gate, the 2nd month is a thirty day solar month and again the days increase as the nights become shorter. This fifth gate, 2nd month, is a 30 day month. However, the following sixth gate, 3rd month, has an extra solar day that extends it to 31 days at the end of the sixth gate, with the Sun rising and setting in the sixth gate.

The extra day is repeated three more times as marker for the four seasons of a solar year. Four times in the year, there is an extended solar month that Enoch says cause men to err:

“And these four days, which are not calculated in the calculation of the year. Respecting them, men greatly err, for these luminaries truly serve, in the dwelling place of the world, one day in the first gate, one in the third, one in the fourth gate, and one in the sixth gate.” (Enoch 74:2-3).

To summarize, the six gates represent six months, each beginning with the Sun and Moon rising in the east and setting in the west. The 31 day solar months are 3, 6, 9 and 12 marking the transition of two seasons within each of the six month segments.

Having described six solar months with six lunations, Enoch then wrote of this second annual sequence:

“The Sun thus completed its beginnings, and a second time goes round from these beginnings.” (Enoch 71:35).

The six gates then repeat in reverse as the Earth moves around the Ecliptic Plane representing another six months, completing a solar year. Thus, Enoch’s Sun powered calendar reveals the following for a twelve month year.

The solar year, consisting of twelve months, is represented on the Ecliptic Plane by twelve houses of the Sun, each in a 30 degree segment or a total of 360 degrees for a Solar year. Enoch said that each month enters its beginning “on account of its signs.” (Enoch 71:17).

Eight of the signs represent the eight months that are 30 solar days in length, and four of the signs represent the four months that have 31 solar days. Thus, Enoch’s solar year is represented by the astronomical signs on the Ecliptic Plane as the Earth passes through them in its 365 day trip around the Sun.

As Earth orbits the Sun, it is the tilt that causes the change of seasons at the spring equinox, summer solstice, autumn equinox and winter solstice. The equinoxes are the points on Earth that mark the annual place in time when day and night are of equal length at twelve hours each.

As the Sun is over the equator at the vernal (spring) equinox, the days grow longer in the Northern Hemisphere and shorter in the Southern Hemisphere. The autumn equinox reverses the seasons to shorter days north and longer days south of the equator. Enoch’s presentation of the solar year clearly shows that it is the Sun that allocates the lunar cycles.

The Sun’s allocation function is evidenced by the repetitive lunations seen at full Moon, quarter Moons and dark Moons. The Moon’s lunation is assigned a lesser role in days, months and years, but it has a major role in allocating weeks and making application of them for an observable calendar. The Moon works together with the Sun and Stars to divide darkness from light.

DIVIDING LIGHT FROM DARKNESS

Chodesh, Moon/Month

The Moon is a nearly perfect sphere that is positioned between the Earth and the Sun at conjunction. The Moon is 93 million miles from the Sun, its light source. The Moon’s orbit and rotation is perfectly synchronized so that the same side of the sphere is always facing the Earth. Furthermore, solar eclipses and conjunctions are possible only because of the Moon’s unique position between the Earth and the Sun at conjunction.

The dark Moon is the only time that an eclipse or a conjunction can occur. The Moon is about one four hundredth the size of the Sun, but at full Moon, when the Earth is positioned between the Sun and the Moon, the circumference of a full Moon appears to be the same size as the Sun. Enoch compared the two lights as they appear from Earth:

“These are the two great luminaries: their circumferences of both alike, in the circumference of the Sun there are seven portions of light which are added to it more than the Moon.” (Enoch 78:3-4).

The Sun, seven times brighter, is confirmation that Enoch was comparing the Sun to a full Moon. The two great luminaries having equal appearing circumferences, with one having seven times more light, can only be the Sun and a full Moon, which occurs one time in the center of a lunation (month) between conjunctions.

Therefore a lunation is divided into portions. Enoch described the divisions like this:

“And on that night (Full Moon night) it is dark in its fourteen portions (half), that is, in each half (two weeks before and two weeks after); but it rises (in the east) on that day (full Moon) with one seventh portion (of Sun’s light) precisely, and its progress declines(waning Moon) from the rising of the Sun.” (Enoch 72:9).

Thus, the full Moon is a central event, and on that day, when the Moon is full at midnight, on the opposite side of the Earth, the Sun is shining. It perfectly matches the woman of Revelation twelve. She is positioned between the full Moon and the Sun.

She is clothed with the Sun as the Moon is under her feet, with the Stars of her crown representing the twelve houses of the Sun. It is powerful evidence that the full Moon is the New Moon.

Read the account as Enoch confirms the full Moon as the New Moon:

“On the first day she is called the New Moon, for on that day the light rises upon her. She becomes full Moon exactly on the day when the Sun sets in the west, and from the east she rises at night, and the Moon shines the whole night through till the Sun rises over against her and the Moon is seen over against the Sun. (Enoch 78:12-13).

When the Sun sets in the west as the Moon rises in the east, it is the exact day that the Moon receives all her light following the days of waxing phases. Enoch gives us the added information:

“She accomplishes her waning in the first period of time.” (Enoch 78:15).

The waning phases follow the full Moon, which he called the first period. Thus, he adversely named the full Moon as the beginning of the month. The day of the full Moon is the New Moon, permanent and fixed in full view for all to see.

The False Theorems

Unlike the observable lighted phases, the dark Moon is invisible one or two days, so on which day could we “look narrowly” for a new Moon? So, is the new Moon at conjunction during the dark Moon phase or a crescent moon at sunset?

A new Moon/month beginning at conjunction and confirmed by the visible crescent at Sunset is the most prevalent of theorems. However, it has serious problems because that Crescent Moon is already at least twelve hours after conjunction. Since the Moon rises in the east just as the Sun does, the crescent Moon after Sunset is astronomically incorrect. It does not fit a precise monthly appearance.

Most calendars depict the new Moon as a black dot, which represents a ‘covered or dark Moon; for the Moon is invisible at conjunction. Thus, the command to “observe” is technically impossible at conjunction, and would require some kind of calculation.

If conjunction is the new Moon, there would have to be a way to determine when it occurs. A conjunction new Moon or a crescent in the evening sky is a problem without a precise solution, but the Scriptures describe another way that is perfect in every way.

Building a New Moon

Scripture designates a Moon as a rebuilding process by the language used. For example:

“This month (Heb. Chodesh) shall be unto you the beginning of months (Heb. Chodesh): it shall be the first month (Heb. Chodesh) of the year to you.” (Exodus. 12:2).

Month Heb. Chodesh, – 2320 – “from 2318, to be new, rebuild, renew, by implication, a month”. Scripture uses the same Hebrew word for both ‘Moon’ and ‘month’. Therefore, the New Moon must be a new month, because ‘Chodesh’ gives us the definition of a New Moon and a new month.

The Hebrew word Chodesh is from the verb ‘chadas’ (2318) meaning to be new or rebuild. Rebuilding is exactly what each lunation does after the decline of the waning phases. The Moon’s light diminishes to conjunction and rebuilds to a full Moon again in the waxing phases.

Thus, the rebuild/renew is necessary because it follows the declining days in the waning Moon phases and dark days of conjunction. Rebuilding of the Moon, or the observable days of renewing, cannot begin until after its conjunction midpoint with the Sun. Chodesh (rebuilding) begins at conjunction, but it is not the New Moon, rather it is the beginning of a process toward a New Moon.

Renewing, by definition, implies that it is a follow on process, but follow on to what? The Moon must renew because the waning Moon phases returned the observable Moon to a dark Moon at conjunction, making renewal (Chodesh) necessary.

The objective of the renewing process is the renewed full Moon. It is the full Moon under the feet of the woman of Revelation:

“a woman clothed with the Sun and the Moon under her feet,” (Rev. 12:1).

Enoch’s New Moon

“After this law I beheld another law of an inferior luminary, the name of which is the Moon, and the orb of which is as the orb of Heaven. Its chariot, which it secretly ascends, the wind blows; and light is given to it by measure.

Every month at its exit and entrance it becomes changed; and its periods are as the periods of the Sun. And when in like manner its light is to exist, its light is a seventh portion from the light of the Sun.” (Enoch 72:1-3).

The full Moon receives its light from the Sun, which is then reflected back to the Earth as one seventh of the light of the Sun. That event occurs only one day each month at the end of the waxing phases.

The next day is the first full day of a new Moon followed by descending amounts of light until its conjunction with the Sun. After conjunction, light is given to it in ascending amounts unto the full Moon again when it again receives a seventh of the Suns light.

“Thus it rises, and at its commencement towards the east goes forth for thirty days. At that time it appears, and becomes to you the beginning of the month. Thirty days it is with the Sun in the gate from which the Sun goes forth.” (Enoch 72:4-5).

At what time does it become the beginning of the month? Look at the underlined portion of verse 3 again. It is when its light is a seventh portion from the light of the Sun. Enoch says that it becomes to you the beginning of the month. It is compelling evidence that the month starts with a full Moon.

The Crescent Moon

“And when the Sun rises, the Moon rises with it; receiving half a portion of light. On that night, when it commences its period, previously to the day of the month, the Moon sets with the Sun.” (Enoch 72:7-8).

The Moon begins to receive its light from the Sun on the first morning after conjunction. On that morning, a thin sliver of light appears on the eastern horizon and the Moon is receiving its light from the Sun’s glow below the horizon. The two luminaries then arc above the Earth to the western horizon where they set in the evening sky. This is the crescent Moon that is popularly called the new Moon.

“And when it is wholly extinguished, its light is consumed in Heaven; and on the first day it is called the new Moon, for on that day light is received into it.” (Enoch 77:14).

Thus, Enoch acknowledged that the crescent Moon is called the new Moon. To this point we have established that the full Moon is the beginning of the month, and that the crescent Moon is called the new Moon. So, we need more evidence to establish which Moon is Enoch’s new Moon.

More Evidence

“And on that night it is dark in its fourteen portions, that is, in each half; but it rises on that day with one seventh portion precisely, and in its progress declines from the rising of the Sun. During the remainder of its period its light increases to fourteen portions.” (Enoch 72:9-10).

The crescent Moon, which sets with the Sun, begins to build its light each subsequent day for 13 more days. The increasing light is evidence that the Moon is building (Heb. Chodesh) toward the full Moon until the Moon reflects 14 portions of light from the Sun, known to be the full Moon.

We have already learned that the full Moon is the “beginning of the month,” (Cf. Enoch 72:5) and that beginning is the result of a light rebuilding process culminating in a full Moon.

“In each of its two seven portions it completes all its light at rising and at setting.” (Enoch 73:4).

So, we have learned that, according to Enoch, the full Moon is the New Moon and the beginning of the month. Now let us see if that is supported by Canon Scripture.

Proof from Canon Scripture

“Speak unto the children of Yisrael, saying, in the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a Set Apart convocation.” (Leviticus 23:24).

The first thing to notice is that this verse is about the first day of a month, and being a first day, it begins a new month, does it not? If it is a new month, and the first day of the month, then it must also be a New Moon, is it not?

“He made the Moon for seasons; the Sun hath known his place of entrance.” (Psalms. 104:19).

This day is a feast day, but it is not a weekly Sabbath day; for the seventh day is not in view here. The first day of a month and the seventh day of a week cannot occur at the same time, for it would be a violation of the Fourth Commandment.

According to the Fourth Commandment, the Sabbath is preceded by six work days:

“Six days shall you labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of YAHUAH thy Eloah.” (Exodus. 20:9-10).

The first day of the month is not a Sabbath. However, the first day of the month is a commanded day of rest: The Hebrew word for ‘Sabbath’ in Leviticus 23:24 is Strong’s 7677, Shabbathown, from 7676 (Sabbath); a Sabbatism or special holiday:–rest. The New Moon at the Feast of Trumpets is a commanded day of rest, on the first day of the month, but in addition to the regular weekly Sabbath.

“Blow at new Moon (Chodesh) a ram’s horn (shofar), at full Moon (keseh), at day (yom), pilgrim feast (Chag).” (Psalms 81:3, YLT).

The Feast of Trumpets is also on a full Moon, which is said to be the first day of the month. (Cf. Leviticus 23:24).

After conjunction, the Moon rises on average about 50 minutes later each day, so the Moon is in the sky during daytime as much as it is at night. Thus, the visible waxing phases begin to rebuild from conjunction to a new full Moon, and the beginning of a new month.

This is followed by retreat through the visible waning phases to re-conjunct with the Sun, and begins to rebuild again for fourteen days to the new full Moon.

“And there appeared a great wonder in Heaven; a woman clothed with the Sun and the Moon under her feet,” (Revelation. 12:1).

She stands between the Sun and the rebuilt Moon. She represents the Earth between the Sun and the Moon on the first full day in a lunation that a full Moon occurs, on New Moon day at the beginning of a month.

“Blow up the trumpet in the new Moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.” (Psalms 81:3 KJV).

The Hebrew word for ‘time appointed’ is ‘moed’. Although a solemn feast day is an appointed time (moed), the word does not appear in the Hebrew text of the above verse. Thus, it is obvious that the King James translators assumed the interpretation. The assumed interpretation is well supported by other Scripture, and therefore valid.

However, it does serve to illustrate a substantial problem faced by translators in their translations of Hebrew into the English language.

All English translations assume verbs, conjunctions (and), the definite article (the), and punctuations that do not appear in Hebrew, but are understood only within the context.

These English literature selections can significantly alter interpretation.

The word order in the literal Hebrew text connects the act of sounding the trumpet with the ‘solemn feast day’: “Blow at new Moon (Chodesh) a ram’s horn (shofar), at full Moon (keseh), at day yom), pilgrim feast (Chag).” (Psalms 81:3, YLT). The act of blowing the ‘shofar’ is connected to all three elements, ‘Chodesh’ (new Moon/month), ‘keseh’ (full Moon), and solemn Feast Day, (‘chag’, pilgrim feast).

In other words this is the memorial proclaiming the Feast of Trumpets (Heb. Rosh Hashanah) with the blowing of the rams horn (Shofar).

Pilgrim Feast, Chag, Heb. 2282, chag khag or chag khawg; from 2287; a festival, or a victim therefore :- (solemn) feast (day), sacrifice, solemnity, Chagag, to move, march, a procession (also, people moving as in a pilgrimage). A pilgrimage is a long journey usually conducted in the Sunlit hours or the daylight portion, of a day (yom).

New Moon, Chodesh, S-Heb. 2320 – “from 2318, to be new, rebuild, renew, by implication, a month”. Scripture uses the same Hebrew word for both ‘new Moon’ and ‘month’. Therefore, the New Moon is the equivalent of a new month. After Yisrael crossed Jordan into the Promised Land, shofars were always sounded on New Moon day.

Chadash, Heb. 2318 – a primitive root; to be new; causatively, to rebuild:–renew, repair. Rebuilding is exactly what each Moon/month does from conjunction to a full Moon, confirming creation’s sequence of darkness to light, but the renewing process ends with the full Moon.

New Moon Conclusion

“And on the first day she is called the New Moon, for on that day the light rises upon her. She becomes Full Moon exactly on the day when the Sun sets in the west, and from the east she rises at night, and the Moon shines the whole night through till the Sun rises over against her and the Moon is seen over against the Sun.” (Enoch 78:12-13).

Moonrise, as the Sun is setting, only occurs one day in a lunation, and which is precisely at the Full Moon. The glow of the rising moon on the eastern horizon as the glow of the sun is on the western horizon is our Creator’s unchanging sign that a new month is beginning. The day after is the New Moon. A calendar that sets YAHUAH’s Set Apart Feasts must be based on a month that begins with a New Full Moon.

THE ECLIPSE ON PREPARATION DAY

“Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.” (Mt. 27:45).

The symbolism of darkness before light is nowhere better illustrated than those three hours of darkness that veiled the scene of Yahusha Messiah’s sacrifice.

Not only was the veil of the Temple torn from top to bottom marking the end of animal sacrifice, but the Sun itself hid its face from the terrible suffering that was occurring at Golgotha. The greater light that rules the day was darkened by the lesser light that rules the night.

From Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia: (An eclipse occurred during messiah’s hanging on the tree)

“A total eclipse occurs when the Sun is completely obscured by the Moon. The intensely bright disk of the Sun is replaced by the dark outline of the Moon, and the much fainter corona is visible. During any one eclipse, totality is visible only from at most a narrow track on the surface of the Earth.”

A solar eclipse event is caused by the Moon’s orbit about the Earth, as it is positioned between the Sun and Earth on the day of the dark Moon at its conjunction phase. The conjunction phase is fixed and always occurs on the fifteenth day after the New Full Moon.

Several times a year, the dark Moon also appears on the fourteenth day. The fourteenth day of the first month is also Preparation Day for the evening Passover. (Cf. Leviticus. 23:5).

The Moon blocks the Sun’s light as viewed from the Earth in a narrow track on the Earth’s surface. An eclipse can only happen as the Earth and Moon travel across the Ecliptic Plane (Lat. Zodiacus, Heb. Mazzaroth (Cf Job 38:31).) with the Moon between the Earth and the Sun at its conjunction phase with the Sun.

All natural solar eclipses last only a few minutes at any one location, but the eclipse at Calvary that day was not a normal event. The Earth and Moon stopped their journey across the Ecliptic Plane for three hours. Such an event is described by the prophet Amos:

“And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Sovereign YAHUAH, that I will cause the Sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:” (Amos 8:9).

A solar eclipse can occur only on one or two days during a lunation, and that is on the fifteenth day and/or fourteenth when there are two dark moon days together. Therefore, Yahusha died during a solar eclipse on Preparation Day on the fourteenth day of the first month.

This exactly fulfills the Torah requirement for the slaughter of the Passover Lamb:

“And it hath become a charge to you, until the fourteenth day of this month, and the whole assembly of the company of Yisrael have slaughtered it between the evenings;” (Exodus 12:6, YLT).

Do you see the full significance of the time of Yahusha’s death? Not only does His appointed time of death during an eclipse disprove all of the false calendars that place the New Moon following conjunction, it also proves conclusively that Yahusha’s memorial dinner with His disciples was not a Passover Seder. How could it be?

The memorial dinner was conducted in the evening hours of the thirteenth, which was the day before His death, not in the evening of the day when the lambs were slaughtered! Even Yahusha’s beloved disciple John verified that the meal was celebrated beforethe Passover:

“Now before the feast of the Passover, when YAHUAHsha knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him;” (John. 13:1-2).

Before, Gr. pro a primary preposition; “fore”, i.e. in front of, prior (figuratively, superior) to:–above, ago, before, or ever. In the comparative, it retains the same significations. The scribes and translators of Scripture have deceived us with altered manuscripts and false translation to conceal the true facts of Scripture. The truth is YAHUAHsha did in fact say that He would not eat the Passover.

The deception is found in words that have been added to the earliest manuscripts of the following Scripture:

“And he said unto them, with desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of YAHUAH.” (Lk. 22:15-16).

The words ‘any more’ have been added to the oldest Greek manuscripts i.e., Vatican Manuscript, Codex Sinaiticus and the Codex Alexandrinus. For example, the English translation of the Vatican Manuscript text omits the added words:

“And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will not eat of it, till it shall be fulfilled in the Kingdom of G-d.” (Luke 22: 15-16, Vat. Ms).

A literal translation renders the above Scripture like this:

“And he said unto them, `With desire I did desire to eat this Passover with you before my suffering, for I say to you, that no more may I eat of it till it may be fulfilled in the reign of G-d.” (Luke 22:15-16, YLT).

Yahusha Messiah was sacrificed on the Preparation Day for the evening Passover when the lambs were slaughtered in preparation for the meal:

“And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Yisrael shall kill it in the evening.” (Exodus 12:6).

“And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour: and he says unto the Jews, Behold your King!” (John. 19:14).

Our King was sacrificed when the brilliance of the Sun was covered by the darkened Moon on one of the only days in a month an eclipse can occur. On that first month, it was the fourteenth day when the lambs were slaughtered at Passover:

“The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the stake on the Sabbath day,” (John 19:16).

To fulfill and completely satisfy prophecy, and to be our Passover Lamb of protection, YAHUAHsha’s sacrifice had to be on the same day the lambs were slaughtered.

Praise YAHUAH, He paid the price for our redemption on that day of darkness as the Moon covered the Sun.

THE WEEKLY SABBATH

How to Count to a Sabbath

As the Earth orbits the Sun, and rotates counterclockwise, west to east, on its axis, the average Moon spin rate over the 360 degree Earth orbit are 30 lunations per year. That average includes the dark Moon days during conjunction. There is space for only four weekly Sabbaths within a monthly lunation, but there are potentially 52 weeks annually in a solar year.

Crescent new Moon people claim that if the Sabbaths of YAHUAH are determined by one of the lights in the night sky above, it has to be the Moon. It is the only light that has phases corresponding to a seven day cycle. They say that the new Moon after conjunction followed by the first quarter of lunation seven days later, and the subsequent full Moon and waning phase serve to identify weeks.

The claim is prompted by these questions: “Why does this light have these cycles? How else can the Almighty’s set apart days be determined by the lights of Heaven? There is absolutely no other light that provides the answers to those questions. It must be the Moon because He said there is a light that does the defining for us.”

The argument is sound and has much merit, but it is out-of-sync and must be put in its proper order. All can agree that the Sabbath is the Creator’s product of light, but the question is: Which light provides a schedule that is in keeping with the fourth commandment?

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it Set Apart. Six days shall you labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of YAHUAH thy Eloah.” (Exodus 20:8-10).

The fourth Commandment is telling us how to count to a Sabbath. According to the command, the Sabbath is preceded by six work days. The fourth commandment, as all commandments, is fixed forever.

In the count to a weekly Sabbath, there are rules to follow. The seven days of the creation week are unchangeable. We must not add to, nor take away from the Commandments. To follow the instructions of the Fourth Commandment, the Set Apart Sabbath day is preceded by six days of work. Unless we can find exceptions to that rule from scripture, there is no reason to depart from the rule of the Fourth Commandment.

Scripture also commands us to keep the New Moon as the foundation for beginning a month. The month contains four weeks (Shabuwa) with its ending Sabbath. Thus, after marking the day of the New Moon, then following the instructions of the fourth commandment, the week is measured off after six working days; the Sabbath is the day immediately following six work days.

The Sabbath can never be at any other time or measured by any other system of reckoning. To use any other system is a direct contradiction of the fourth commandment.

The New Moon is the beginning or first day of the month, but it is not a work day. Rather, it is a commanded day of rest. Therefore, the six work days of the Fourth Commandment can only begin after the New Moon. With the first of the six work days beginning the day after the New Moon, the Sabbaths will always fall on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th days of the month.

Furthermore, these days will rarely, but occasionally will, coincide with Babylon’s weekly Hebdomad days. In summary, once you know and mark the day of the New Full Moon, keeping Sabbath on the correct day is simple.

Just remember, the day starts at Sunrise and ends at Sunrise, as we have proven in a previous chapter.

Proof from the Torah

“And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Yisrael came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 16:1).

Exactly one month after departing Egypt, the new nation of Yisrael began to murmur in regret of having left the land of their captivity.

They said to Moses and Aaron on the fifteenth day of that second month: “for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” (Exodus 16:3).

Their complaint brought forth YAHUAH’s plan to test His people to see if they would obey His commands. “Then said YAHUAH unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from Heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my Law, or no.” (Exodus 16:4).

In the late afternoon of that fifteenth day, YAHUAH caused a large number of quail to enter the camp of the Yisraelites. YAHUAH provided them with flesh to eat that very evening, saying:

“I have heard the murmurings of the children of Yisrael: speak unto them, saying, at even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am YAHUAH your Eloah.” (Exodus 16:12).

The next morning, on the sixteenth day of that second month, the small round substance of YAHUAH’s bread was found on the desert landscape. It was the Almighty’s first lesson on how to count the days to His Sabbaths.

“And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the Sun waxed hot, it melted. And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man:” (Exodus 16:21-22).

Moses spoke to the leaders of the congregation about the coming Sabbath that followed the six days of gathering manna:

“This is that which YAHUAH hath said; Tomorrow is the rest of the Set Apart Sabbath unto YAHUAH: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remains over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.” (Exodus 16:23).

Now we can do the math for counting to YAHUAH’s Sabbaths contained within a month. Following the fifteenth day of that second month, there were six days of gathering manna (six work days) with double amounts on the sixth day. The next day was a Sabbath, which was the eighth day counting from the fifteenth day, or the twenty second day of the second month.

Thus, if the twenty-second day was a Sabbath, then so were the eighth, fifteenth and twenty-ninth days also Sabbaths. “Six days you shall do thy work, and on the seventh day you shall rest:” (Exodus 23:12).

YAHUAH’s lesson for His people is that after the New Moon, His Sabbaths are on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th days of each month.

THE SOLAR LUNAR YEARS

Enoch’s Lunar Months

The angel Uriel presented wisdom to Enoch that most men are unable to discern:

“Uriel likewise showed me another regulation, when light is poured into the Moon, how it is poured into it from the Sun.” (Enoch 77:12).

You are about to learn how the Sun regulates the Moon’s monthly lunation from one New Moon to the next throughout the lunar year. Then, you will learn how the lunar year, which is ten days shorter, is reconciled to the solar year through Uriel’s inter calculation formula.

Enoch was witness to the angel’s revelation:

“When that their visible situation is completed. Such is the appearance and likeness of every luminary, which Uriel, the great angel who conducts them, showed to me.” (Enoch 78:5).

The wisdom that Enoch learned from Uriel is where all the calendars of Babylon miss the mark, including the modern calendar we use daily. The Sun leads the Moon into its daily orbit around the Earth and determines where the Moon rises and sets on the eastern and western horizons.

Enoch described the significant variables that have an effect on an observable calendar: “On stated months the Moon has twenty-nine days (of light). It also has a period of twenty-eight days (of light).” (Enoch 77:10-11).

The 29 day months have 28 days when the visible Moon is reflecting its light as seen from Earth. However, the months also utilize dark Moon days to complete its lunations. Enoch explained how this occurs as the Sun allocates its light to the Moon in the six gates starting with the Full Moon:

“Where the light comes to the Moon, there again it decreases, (Waning Moon) until all its light is extinguished, (Dark Moon) and the days of the Moon pass away. Then its orb remains solitary without light. (During conjunction)

During three months it effects in thirty days each month its period; and three more months it affects it in twenty-nine days each. These are the times in which effects decrease in its first period, and in its first gate, namely in one hundred seventy-seven days.” (Enoch 77:17-19).

The 177 days represent a lunar half year or six months starting in the first Gate. (177 x 2 = 354-day lunar year). So, for 28 days that the Moon’s light is observable there is one dark day at conjunction on the 15th day, making it a 29 day month for three months.

The 30 day months have 28 days of observable light, but utilizes two dark days on the 14th and 15th days, making it 30 day month for three more months. The Time Portals that Enoch called Gates are then counted in reverse order to complete the 364/354-day Solar/lunar year.

Reconciling the Solar/Lunar Years

When you reconcile your checking account, you must account for every penny deposited and every penny spent. Reconciling usually is done on a monthly basis, if accuracy is to be achieved and maintained. Otherwise, the account most likely would soon be out-of-balance and undependable for accurate data. It is the same type of problem that exists between a solar year and a lunar year.

The 364-day solar year is ten days longer than the lunar year, which Enoch addressed in two half year segments:

“Its period is less than that of the Sun, according to the ordinance of the Stars, by five days in one half year precisely” (Enoch 78:4).

To reconcile the difference, the angel Uriel gave Enoch the inter-calculation formula:

“The Moon brings on all the years exactly, that their stations may come neither too forwards nor too backwards a single day; but that the years may be changed with correct precision in three hundred and sixty-four days. “In three years the days are one thousand and ninety-two; in five years they are one thousand eight hundred and twenty; and in eight years two thousand nine hundred and twelve days.” (Enoch 73:13).

Read that again! Enoch has told us how to reconcile the 354-day lunar year to the 364-day solar year represented by the 360-degree orbit around the Ecliptic Plane. Disregarding the number of days, a solar year is the length of time it takes the Earth, as seen from space, to return to the same position along its path around the Ecliptic Plane.

Enoch’s 364-day solar year omits the 24 hours of Atonement, a time set apart for prayer and repentance, but the 364 day solar year does represent the same 365-day annual Earth orbit around the Sun.

So, to adjust the shorter lunar year up to the longer Solar year, there must be an added time span to make up the difference. Since the monthly lunation cycle of the Moon measures out months, the time span addition must be a month at a time, or a thirteenth month must be added every few years according to Enoch’s recorded inter-calculation formula.

Is there a thirteenth month? Oh yes, indeed there is. Twelve months only equals 354 days for a lunar year, eleven days shorter than the solar year. Without adjustments, the annual festivals would soon be out of season. The prophet Enoch has passed the angel’s inter-calculation formula to us, in order to keep the calendar accurate.

Remembering that the ancients omitted the Day of Atonement thereby calculating solar years as 364 days, here is how the inter-calculation formula works:

“In three years the days are one thousand and ninety two; in five years they are one thousand eight hundred and twenty; and in eight years two thousand nine hundred and twelve days.” (Enoch 73:13b).

1,092 days over three years amounts to a one month adjustment per year. 1,820 days over five years is the same, or one month per year. The same 30 day change rate for twelve years. So, we can conclude that every few years, there is an adjustment necessary. Bad news, if we have to calculate the adjustments.

However, here is the good news: Our Creator has built in an automatic adjustment through the lunation cycle following the 12th month, if adjustment is needed. In other words, a thirteenth month is added before the first month of the following year.

Thus, every few years there is an adjustment of the lunar year to the solar year. If we accept YAHUAH’s true calendar, we will have no problem looking for a thirteenth month because He will place it before us. Always begin the new year with the first Full Moon after the Vernal Equinox and, if there is a thirteenth month at the previous year’s end, it will always be there waiting to end an old year and begin a new one.

The Solar Powered Lunation

The Lunation Charts in the next chapter are excellent examples of how the Sun allocates its light to the Moon with its variable aspects. Bear in mind, the Moon orbits the Earth as they orbit the Sun together.

You will notice that days 14 and 15 are both dark moon days, but only one of them is the conjunction. The Sun’s light is retained an extra day to cause the Moon’s light, or lack of light at conjunction, to repeat.

The repeating solar/lunar condition is also exhibited on the second New Moon on the 30th day adjacent to the next New Moon on the following month. The prophet Enoch addressed the phenomenon in their various portions of light:

“Half of it is in extent seven portions, one half; and the whole of its orb is void of light, except a seventh portion out of the fourteen portions of its light. And in a day it receives a seventh portion, or half that portion of it, sets with the sun.” (Enoch 72:6).

All of the Lunation’s, throughout the year, display the variables in a manner that assures the full New Moon will always appear right on schedule.

The Sun’s Season Markers

Not only do the false calendars miss it with their Sunset to Sunset days and the crescent or dark new Moons, they also miss it big by not calculating four important days of the year:

“And these four days, which are not calculated in the calculation of the year. Respecting them, men greatly err, for these luminaries truly serve, in the dwelling places of the world, one day in the first gate, one in the third gate, one in the fourth gate, and one in the sixth gate.

And the harmony of the world becomes complete every three hundred and sixty-fourth state of it. For the signs, the seasons, the years. (Enoch 74:2-6).

Enoch had already described one of the additional days in the sixth gate:

“The Sun now returns to the east, entering into the sixth gate, and rising and setting in the sixth gate thirty-one days, on account of its signs.” (Enoch 71:17).

The Moon’s lunation in the sixth gate is a 30-day month, but the Sun marks out an extra day every quarter. These are the days not calculated in the 354 day lunar year. The season markers are strictly solar and part of the Solar year.

There are four 31-day months in a solar year and these four extended months provide the harmony that is missing from Babylon’s calendars, and Enoch described the importance of these added days:

“These are the leaders of the chiefs of the thousands, those which preside over all creation, and over all the Stars; with the four days which are added and never separated from the place allotted them, according to the complete calculation of the year.” (Enoch 74:1).

The four days that extend four months are the dividing points between the seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, and they sum up to 91 days per quarter, which is exactly 13 weeks, times 4, equals 52 weeks, times 7, equals 364 days. (13 x 4 = 52 x 7 = 364).

A complete calculation of the year is based on the Sun’s precisely measured days, as the Stars allocate the months. However, it is the lesser light of the Moon that makes practical application of this awesome timepiece in the heavens above.

AN OBSERVABLE LUNAR CALENDAR

Following the Rules

The Moon follows the path of the Sun in a precisely timed sequence as it orbits the Earth and they spin together, orbiting the Sun along the Ecliptic Plane. There are interrelated sequential events that regularly occur, but are seldom mentioned as possible calendar points of interest.

These sequences are powerful evidence that the Creator’s solar powered calendar has rules that cannot be changed or overridden. The rules frequently relate to the number seven, or multiples of that number.

Lunation Variables

There are 30 day months and 29 day months for each twelve month year. Each of the monthly lunations is configured by the Sun. Some of these months have 14 days of waning light before one dark day of conjunction.

Others have thirteen days of waxing light after two dark days at conjunction. The full Moon and dark Moon days are variables but, the months all start and end the same way.

You may have heard the expression “Once in a blue moon”. A ‘blue moon’ is an added full moon during a lunation that occurs when two full Moons appear in the same month. At this writing, astronomers are able to forecast the extra full Moons and are fully documented on astronomical websites.

This repetitive phenomenon also occurs at the quarter Moons and at conjunction with an added dark moon day. However, these variations do not change the 29 or 30 day lunations. All months begin with a Moonrise at Sunset and end on a new full Moon.

The day after the Sun sets as the Moon rises, it is New Moon day. The day after conjunction as the Moon sets with the Sun, is the beginning of the waxing phases (Chodesh) rebuilding to a new Full Moon. All lunar months begin and end in the same manner. That, dear reader, is precision time-keeping by our Creator’s timepiece in the heavens above.

So, let’s look at the monthly lunations that are 29 day months.

A Typical 29-Day Lunation Chart

Day 1, NM

Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 D 8,Sab.

Day 9 Day 10 Day 11 Day 12 Day 13 Day 14 D 15, Sab.

Day 16 Day 17 Day 18 Day 19 Day 20 Day 21 D 22, Sab.

Day 23 Day 24 Day 25 Day 26 Day 27 Day 28 D 29, Sab.

Day one is a New Moon day, followed by six work/commerce days followed by the weekly Sabbath. This sequential arrangement fulfills the fourth Commandment exactly. The Commandment directs us to measure off six workdays before the Sabbath:

“Six days shall you labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of YAHUAH thy Eloah.” (Exodus 20:9-10).

There are four complete weeks each month, with the work day count starting the day after the New Moon. The Fourth Commandment reflects the creation week. YAHUAH’s Set Apart Sabbath is a special day that is set according to His creation lights.

The Sabbath marks His people and the lights mark His plan for their obedient worship. A true calendar must follow the same pattern setup as the creation week. The creation week is six creation days before the sanctified Sabbath of rest. That sequence of days is repeated in the fourth Commandment:

“Six days shall you labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of YAHUAH thy Eloah.” (Exodus 20:9-10).

So now, let us look at the lunations that are 30 day months on Enoch’s lunar calendar.

A Typical 30-Day Lunation Chart

Day 1, NM

Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 D 8,Sab.

Day 9 Day 10 Day 11 Day 12 Day 13 Day 14 D 15, Sab.

Day 16 Day 17 Day 18 Day 19 Day 20 Day 21 D 22, Sab.

Day 23 Day 24 Day 25 Day 26 Day 27 Day 28 D 29, Sab.

Day 30 Second New Moon

Each of the 30 day months is configured exactly the same, but sometimes with thirteen days of waning light before two days of conjunction and sometimes 14 days before one dark moon on day 15.

However, this time there are fifteen days of waxing light to a second New Moon on the 30th day. The rebuilding (Heb, Chodesh), waxing Moon has one more day than the twenty nine day months, and the day is Set Apart for six or seven special occasions during a standard 354 day lunar year.

The special occasions are spelled out for us in little understood portion of the Scriptures. Please read and familiarize yourself with 1 Samuel, chapter 20 for the story of David’s escape from King Saul.

That portion of Scripture gives the full explanation of how to recognize the beginning of a month.

Second New Moon on the 30th Day

The thirty day months each have a second New Moon day. It was on one of these months that David said to Jonathan: “Tomorrow is the New Moon.” (1 Samuel 20:5).

For a detailed account of the 30th day in ancient Yisrael, go to www.creation-answers.com/thirty.htm

On the day before the New Moon, moonrise is on the eastern horizon at about the same time as the Sun sets in the west. So, it was on the 29th day of the month that David was alerted to an approaching New Moon. David knew that the month was not yet ending because that evening on the 29th day, the Sun preceded the moonrise by more than an hour. That meant that there would be a second New Moon in an extended 30 day month, not a 29 day month.

On the 29th day the Moon was rising as the Sun was setting, and David knew that there would be a second day of feasting. Day 30 and the following Day 1 of the new month are back to back New Moon days. That is why he requested that Jonathan come into the field to shoot the arrows on the third day, the day following the second New Moon celebration. (Cf. 1 Samuel 20:5-42).

The Hebrew text in 1 Samuel 20:27 literally means ‘the 2nd day of the New Moon’, not the 2nd day of the month as in most English translations. A Literal Translation renders it like this:

“On the second morrow of the New Moon,” (1st Sam. 20:27, YLT).

The extended months are the key to a true observable calendar that was lost when men turned to Babylon for their calendar with the Sabbath day named ‘Saturn-day’ after the pagan deity.

Pay attention Messianic and Christian congregations. A calendar based on a crescent or dark Moon will never fit the fully lighted New Moon calendar that David knew so well.

Calendar Application

It is the spring Equinox event that ends winter and signals warmer weather for the hemisphere the Sun is entering. The first New Moon after the Equinox is the first month of the year, which is also the commanded beginning of the year:

“This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. (Exodus 12:2).

Please notice that YAHUAH’s Set Apart Calendar begins with the exact time that is established by the created lights of the fourth day of creation. This is astronomy, not astrology. These lights apply to the entire planet, so that anyone on planet Earth can know and follow His calendar. Every Sabbath, every appointed time or Set Apart Day, has its beginning in this first month; for the year is measured from this beginning month.

Our Creator has given us the only effective means there is for a unified keeping of His Set Apart Days. Here’s how it was applied in Temple worship: The Temple was oriented so the portico entrance faced the east. The congregation was facing west toward the interior of the Temple, avoiding the possibility of anyone worshiping the rising Sun.

The priest’s first function was to call the Feasts and New Moons as they were receiving the worshipers at the Temple portico. The priests were indeed facing the eastern horizon at the morning and evening sacrifices for a good reason. They could observe the Sun and Moon as they rise on the eastern horizon in the morning and evening oblations.

By reviewing the useful purposes of the creation lights, it is easy to see how important an observable calendar is to a believer determined to follow in submissive obedience to YAHUAH’s great plan. There is no substitute for the principle of submissive obedience to our Creator’s plan for His people.

This first month is the month that crops spring forth from the Earth and barley in Yisrael is in its young, tender stage before harvest. But without any knowledge of the barley crop in Yisrael, people everywhere can know His calendar. The lights of Heaven were given for that very purpose:

“And Eloah said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the Heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:” (Genesis 1:14).

CHAGS, PILGRIM FEASTS

“These are the feasts of YAHUAH, even Set Apart convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.” (Leviticus 23:4).

The Set Apart Festivals are a time-map of YAHUAH’s plan, for what He plans to do, and when He plans to bring events to fruition. They are prophetic types that proclaim His Plan and foretell the events, even before they come to pass.

Our modern calendar, which is patterned after the pagan calendar of Babylon, runs from January through December. However, the calendar of lights on the Mazzaroth starts on the first New Full Moon which occurs after the spring equinox.

The equinox is the zero point on the Ecliptic Plane. That is, it is the ending of the old Earth orbit and the beginning of a new Earth orbit. The season arrives with the constellation Aries that is depicted on astronomical charts under the sign of the ram.

“This month shall be unto you the beginning of months it shall be the first month of the year to you.” (Exodus 12:2).

Passover

“In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is YAHUAH’s Passover.” (Leviticus 23:5).

Starting with the day after New Moon day, prepare for Passover by clearing leavening and leavened products out of the household. Start with the New Moon as day one, count fourteen days to preparation day. The Passover Seder is in the evening hours after Sunset of day fourteen. The meal is accompanied by bitter herbs and unleavened bread.

This is YAHUAH’s Set Apart Memorial commemorating Yisrael’s protection from the destruction of the first born in Egypt. They were protected by the blood of the lamb that they had consumed that night. It is a time to remember that a similar protecting event will occur in the future.

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” (Revelation 12:11).

Unleavened Bread

“On the morrow after the Passover the children of Yisrael went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians.” (Num. 33:3).

The next day after Passover, at Sunrise the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread begins. The first day of the feast is the fifteenth day of the month, a High Sabbath day:

“In the first day ye shall have a Set Apart convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.” (Leviticus 23:7).

“And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to YAHUAH throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.

Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Yisrael.” (Exodus 12:14-15).

Spiritually, this feast addresses sanctification. It is a commitment to cleanse sin from our lives by allowing the Set Apart Spirit to reveal to us the salvation provided by our Passover Lamb. That commitment to Ruach HaKodosh enables us to begin recognizing sin in our lives through YAHUAH’s Word.

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalms 119:105). It is light that overcomes the darkness of sin.

The last day of the feast is also a special day:

“In the seventh day is a Set Apart convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.” (Leviticus 23:8).

This seventh day of the feast is the 21st day of the month or the day before the regular Sabbath on the 22nd day of the first month. Therefore, the only regular Sabbath falling in this seven day feast is the first day of the feast, which is on the 15th day of the month, a High Sabbath.

First Fruits

“Speak unto the children of Yisrael, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the First Fruits of your harvest unto the priest:” (Leviticus 23:10).

The wave sheaf offering of harvested barley is derived from many individual plants that make up a bundle (sheaf), which yields an omer or about five pints of grain. The Wave Sheaf Offering was accompanied by a burnt offering of a lamb without blemish.

This offering followed after the sacrifice of Yisrael’s protective Passover Lamb. However, the burnt offering does not represent the Passover Lamb. Rather, it represents the First Fruit grain offering that was made possible by the Passover sacrifice through the resurrected Messiah.

The Wave Sheaf Offering, composed of many individual grains offered together, represents those protected by the blood of the Passover Lamb. The Passover Lambs were slain between the evenings (Late afternoon) on Preparation Day, the 14th day of the first month, or precisely the same time that YAHUAHsha Messiah was sacrificed for our sins.

Brothers and sisters, if we are under the protective blood of the Lamb without blemish, we are the First Fruits Wave Sheaf Offering!

The Wave Sheaf Offering of first fruits could not be accepted by our Heavenly abba until after our sins are atoned for, and washed away by the blood of the Lamb. Think about that! To be chosen as part of the omer, we must be cut down, sifted, baked in the oven, and offered as a living sacrifice to serve under our coming King.

First Fruits that are identified during Unleavened Bread is for application at a later time after the count to Shavuot. YAHUAH’s spring harvest, helps us understand the necessity of the summer harvest.

The Count to Shavuot

Modern Yisrael, outside of the land, has no crop to harvest. Therefore, Yisrael cannot reap from a crop they do not possess. However, instructions from Scripture does serve to establish the commanded count to Shavuot, (Pentecost) which is called the Feast of Weeks.

“And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto YAHUAH” (Leviticus 23:15-16).

The morrow after the Sabbath’ or the day of the Wave Sheaf Offering can only be the second day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread or the sixteenth day of the first month.

“Seven Sabbaths shall be complete:” (Vs. 15). A Scriptural number is not complete until the end of the specified numbering is attained, but at that point it is complete. For example: When one counts seven Sabbaths of years the result is 49 years complete.

The next year will be the 50th year, a separate count added to the first count. The same is true of the commanded count to Shavuot. It is seven Sabbaths complete, and a number after the seven is in addition to the seven, in this case, plus 50 days.

Let us note an important fact here. It is not a day count of 49 days plus one day!

Rather, it is a count of weeks (Heb. Shabuwa), which are seven sevens. Furthermore, it is called a ‘week’ count because it parallels the creation week, so that The Scriptural nomenclature is a seven ‘shabuwa’ (weeks) count of the Sabbaths that occur after the 16th day of the first month plus 50 days.

What are we counting here?

The seven Sabbath count spans from the third Sabbath (22nd day) of the first month through the first Sabbath (8th day) of the third month. Add New Moon days and the day following the seventh Sabbath and the total is expanded several days exceeding the commanded “seven Sabbaths complete:”

The command in the Torah is : “…after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days;…” (Leviticus 23:16). The word ‘number’ (S. 5608) is translated from the Hebrew word ‘caphar’, meaning to tally, enumerate, count or recount.

There is no need to recount or count again to the third Sabbath of the first month, for that count was complete at the seventh Sabbath, but the recount is to number again fifty days (Heb. yowm, day or days).

The Hebrew word ‘yowmam’, means ‘daily’ and does not apply in this case. There are two parts to the count. The first part is the seven sevens count. That part is seven weeks (Heb. Shabuwa) each made up of six work/commerce days plus a Sabbath in each week, but it does not include New Moon days.

In a successive day count, if the New Moon days and 30th days are included, the count would be beyond the Sabbath count. A successive day count would have to include the New Moons that occur within the seven sevens count and would therefore be inaccurate.

That false method of counting to Shavuot applies even to the false crescent new Moons. A successive day count simply does not fulfill the requirement for a seven weeks count. A count of seven weeks sums up to 49 days, but it is the day after the seven Sabbaths that the fifty day count begins. The seven week count is followed by a successive day count of fifty days.

Now, for the second part of the command: “Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto. YAHUAH” (Leviticus 23:16).

Here is where the successive day count is applied. It is after the seven Sabbaths. The count is an explicit one of seven Sabbaths plus fifty days starting on the 9th day of the third month, which is the day after the seventh Sabbath.

Fifty days after the seventh Sabbath places Shavuot with the summer harvest at another Sabbath on the 29th day of the fourth month. It is the Feast of First Fruits of the summer harvest when the wheat that was planted the previous winter is harvested.

More Evidence

Shortly after Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread at Jerusalem, the Master Teacher of Righteousness rested at a well in Samaria and made this statement to His disciples:

“Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” (John 4:35).

His visit to Samaria and His statement were made near the end of the first month when He said the harvest was yet four months away, placing the harvest at the 5th month, which is the harvest of the summer crops.

The count to Shavuot starts at the barley harvest of Abib grain and ends with the mid year harvest of rye, oats and early wheat at the summer harvest. The feast is celebrated using the early wheat harvest:

“And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end.”

The ‘year’s end’ is not the solar year’s end; it is the agricultural year’s end of the pilgrimage feasts when bread made from the wheat harvests are baked into leavened loafs for the feasts. The summer harvest of produce from the land is not only for food to be stored away but, it also for honoring YAHUAH with the first-fruits:

“Honor YAHUAH with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all your increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.” (Proverbs 3:9-10).

Furthermore, it is not only the grains, but other produce as well: “And to bring the first-fruits of our ground, and the first-fruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, unto the house of YAHUAH:” (Nehemiah 10:35).

Barley harvest begins in the spring, but wheat and oats are not available until mid May and later, while grapes and fruit trees follow in mid-summer and after. None of the tree fruits are available in the spring before the summer solstice, which does not occur until after the seven Sabbath count, usually on June 21st.

New wine is the sweet wine that is made from grapes of the current summer crop, and defined as being made of the fermented juice of any of various kinds of grapes So, it is an issue of common knowledge; it is wine that is available only from the fresh grape crop that is produced in the summer season.

The apostle Peter alluded to the summer crop at Shavuot when he responded to the local attendees who had charged the foreign guests with public drunkenness.

“Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.” (Acts 2:13).

Peter addressed the mockers:

“For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.” (Acts 2:15).

The vineyard harvest begins six or seven weeks after the seven Sabbath count, so new wine would not be available at the end of the seven week count, but it was obviously available at the time of Pentecost.

The Count Conclusion

The Set Apart Feast of First-fruits is celebrated every year around the world, but at the wrong time. It is lost because it is not celebrated according to the Creator’s timetable. For thousands of years calendars have come and gone leaving a path of confusion.

Consequently, the true calendar that reveals the forecast for mankind has been lost from view. You can overcome the confusion by being faithful to the evidence given in Scripture, neither adding to it nor subtracting from it.

“He that gathers in summer is a wise son: but he that sleeps in harvest is a son that causes shame.” (Proverbs 10:5).

Shavuot

According to the sages of Talmudic tradition the Torah was delivered to Moses at Mount Sinai on the day of Shavuot. However, the Scriptures place that day at a later time.

“In the third month, when the children of Yisrael were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.” (Exodus 19:1).

Yisrael departed Egypt on the 15th day of the first month. Therefore, the ‘same day’ as their departure would be the 15th day of the third month. The confusion comes from misinterpretation of subsequent instructions to Moses:

“And YAHUAH said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes, and be ready against the third day: for the third day YAHUAH will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai.” (Exodus 19:10-11).

The ‘third day’ follows ‘today and tomorrow’. Therefore, if ‘today’ is the 15th day of the third month, and then the ‘third day’ would be the 17th day of the month.

Thus, the Covenant Ten Commandments on the tablets of stone were delivered to Yisrael on the 17th day of the third month, not on the day of Shavuot, which would have followed that date had there been an appointed date. There were no first fruits of grain to harvest at Sinai, and that festival was on hold until Yisrael entered the Promised Land. (Cf. Joshuah 5:10-12).

The count to Shavuot starts at the barley harvest of Abib grain and ends with the mid year harvest of rye, oats and early wheat at the beginning of summer. The feast is celebrated using the early wheat harvest:

“And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end.”

The ingathering is the agricultural year’s end of the pilgrimage feasts. Bread made from the wheat harvests are made into leavened loafs.

First Fruits

Now, fast-forward to the first century C.E. As Luke reports it:

“And when the days of Shavuot were fulfilled, as all were assembled together as one, there was suddenly a sound from Heaven like a powerful wind, and that entire house in which they were sitting was filled with it.

And tongues that were divided appeared to them like fire and sat upon each one of them. And all of them were filled with Ruach HaKodosh and they began to speak in different tongues like which the Spirit gave them to speak. (Acts 2:1-4, HRV).

Here is the whole purpose of the commanded feast. When there was murmuring about drunkenness, Peter stood up and said:

“But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; and it shall come to pass in the last days, says YAHUAH, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh:” (Acts 2:16-17).

Peter alluded to the season in his speech to the gathering at Shavuot. When there was a charge of public drunkenness against those speaking in foreign tongues, he said:

“…all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: for these are not drunken as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.” (Acts 2:14b, 15).

The mockers had said that the speakers in tongues were full of new wine. New wine is of the crop harvested in the current agricultural season, which places Shavuot in that same summer harvest season.

Believers had gathered together after YAHUAHsha had returned to the Father. Not just the 12 disciples, but about 120 people, many from foreign countries. There was excitement with much talking, remembering, praying, wondering what was next.

These were witnesses to YAHUAHsha’s betrayal, trial, sacrifice, burial and resurrection. They were the first fruits after the Passover Lamb was killed and resurrected to life.

On that morning of Shavuot, lighted by the Set Apart Spirit, they came out of the room, and started telling other people about YAHUAHsha. The streets were full of people from many places who had come for Passover and still lingering there for Shavuot. Those, that had ears to hear, heard the witnesses speak in their own language!

What was being told, for the first time in full form, was the good news of Immanuel Messiah and what it means for all people. But more than words, the message was being carried with power and authority by the Set Apart Spirit into the ears and hearts of those who were listening. About 3000 new people joined the ranks of believers.

This is the first fruits of a new kind of harvest, and the giving of a Renewed Covenant of grace that fulfills the Covenant of the Torah. Shavuot, the celebration of First Fruits, is accompanied by great joy, and a time when generous liberality is bestowed on the poor so they can participate and enjoy the celebration. (Cf. Deuteronomy 16:11).

All who have been washed by the blood of the Lamb, who are part of the overcoming company of believers made free by the birth of the man-child, will do likewise:

“And they that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the Stars for ever and ever.” (Daniel 12:3).

Rosh Hashanah, Feast of Trumpets

“And YAHUAH spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Yisrael, saying, in the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a Set Apart convocation.” (Leviticus 23:23-24).

The Feast of Trumpets is a memorial, or a remembrance assembly that takes place on the seventh New Moon day. This feast introduces the autumn festivals that represent the end of the present age. Up to this point the prior feasts address Yisrael’s response to YAHUAH’s plan and prepare His people for what is ahead.

Trumpets sound the beginning of YAHUAH’s intervention in the affairs of mankind throughout the Earth. It is a solemn feast day, but accompanied by gladness among the people.

“Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your Eloah: I am YAHUAH your Eloah.” (Numbers 10:10).

The Feast of Trumpets is a commanded day of rest, but it is not a regular Sabbath. The word that the translators rendered ‘Sabbath’ is from the Hebrew word ‘Sabbathown’, from another Hebrew word ‘shabbath’, meaning intermission or special day of rest. New Moons and Sabbaths never overlap.

“Blow up the trumpet in the New Moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.” (Psalms 81:3).

That this Set Apart day takes place on the New Moon is significant because it is the very day that Yisrael began their march around Jericho. The city’s name is derived from the word ‘yareach’, meaning ‘Moon’. The Moon city was conquered by Yisrael’s trumpet featured march around the city.

The commanded procession’s main feature was the priests blowing trumpets of rams horns accompanied with shouting by the people. The seven day march began on New Moon day and ended on the seventh day before the Sabbath on the eighth day. This is the memorial of that New Moon day that Yisrael began the conquest of the moon city.

Yom Kippur, Day of Atonement

“And YAHUAH spoke unto Moses, saying, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a Day of Atonement: it shall be an Set Apart convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto YAHUAH.” (Leviticus 23:26-27).

Up to this point, YAHUAH’s Set Apart convocations are accompanied by joyous feasting with laughter and even dancing, but this occasion is much different. Atonement is a day that self examination sets the mode, both individually and collectively, Yisrael is commanded to ‘afflict your souls’.

With contrite humility, a sacrifice by fire accompanied this solemn yielding of self interests. In ancient practice, this ceremony was conducted by the High Priest entering the Most Set Apart Place with a blood sacrifice on behalf of the people.

“For on that day shall the priest make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before YAHUAH.” (Leviticus 16:29).

YAHUAH’s stated purpose of this annually repeated occasion is awesome. With reverence, we must understand the meaning of this solemn gathering. Yom Kippur is a time of self examination to consider our breach of the Covenant delivered to Yisrael at Sinai.

Looking at the Ten Commandments as a contract between two parties, and that it is a contract to give us life. To be clean from sin is to be restored to Covenant status.

Atonement for our breach of the Commandments is to be conducted by our High Priest who represents us before the Almighty.

“Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to YAHUAH, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” (Hebrews 2:17).

Atonement is made through our High Priest YAHUAHsha Messiah.

“Wherefore, Set Apart brethren, partakers of the Heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, the Messiah YAHUAHsha;” (Hebrews 3:1).

He is our blood sacrifice that represents us on this most Set Apart Day of Atonement.

“It shall be unto you a Sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.” (Leviticus 23:32).

This twenty four hours of personal affliction begins in the darkness of evening and ends after the light of day. On the day after the regular weekly Sabbath at the evening of the ninth day the afflicting of our bodies begins.

No food or drink is consumed until the evening of the tenth day. The mode for this 24 hour period is self examination, repentance and prayer, seeking atonement and restoration to our Covenant status.

“And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before YAHUAH our Eloah, as he hath commanded us.” (Deuteronomy 6:25).

Brothers and sisters, the original Covenant was written on tablets of stone by the finger of Almighty YAHUAH. He did not write Ten Commandments for us to have life, and then later change His mind.

The Decalogue of Commandments is still our Covenant contract for life. The Day of Atonement is an excellent time to begin memorizing the Ten Commandments, teach them to your children and family members. Write them on the frontlets between your eyes. See everything in your life in relation to these commands.

“Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.” (Deuteronomy 11:18).

Sukkot, Feast of Booths

“And YAHUAH spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Yisrael, saying, the fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days unto YAHUAH.” (Leviticus 23:34).

Sukkot, Feast of Booths (Tabernacles), is a time of rejoicing at the harvest season. It is a feast of thanksgiving for YAHUAH’s bountiful provisions during the agricultural year, but more than that, it is remembrance of Yisrael’s time in the wilderness after escaping from Egypt.

This feast, above others, is a reminder of the joy that flows from a relationship with the Almighty through Immanuel our Messiah. The Feast of Tabernacles is a campground scene of temporary shelters during the entire period starting with a Sabbath on the 15th day of the seventh month.

The temporary booths are roughly fabricated out of trees, bushes and plants found at the campsite location. The booths are constructed following YAHUAH’s instructions:

“And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before YAHUAH your Eloah seven days.” (Leviticus 23:40).

Since Tabernacles is in the autumn season, boughs of thick trees will provide shelter from inclement weather, but warm clothing and bedding will be necessary against night temperatures. The feast is for all generations as YAHUAH’s important reminder of the exodus out of slavery.

“Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Yisraelites born shall dwell in booths: That your generations may know that I made the children of Yisrael to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am YAHUAH your Eloah.” (Leviticus 23:42-43).

The Eighth Day, Last Great Day

The day following the seven day celebration falls on the 22nd day of the seventh month, a Sabbath. It is a High Set Apart Sabbath:

“…on the eighth day shall be a Set Apart convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto YAHUAH: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.” (Leviticus 23:36).

The eighth day follows the seven days Feast of Booths and it is the same day of the celebration that YAHUAHsha made this astonishing declaration:

“In the last day, that great day of the feast, YAHUAHsha stood and cried, saying, if any man thirst let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”(John 7:37-38).

What a glorious and uplifting statement to make on this occasion. The Zion people who have made it through to this Last Great Day will have obtained this great promise.

Think about it! The promise of the Set Apart Spirit is a gift that is granted only through Messiah. Praise YAHUAH for His treasured gift of living water.

A Pilgrim Feast Chart

At this point we have discovered that Enoch, under the tutoring of an Angel, positively declared that the Full Moon is the New Moon and the beginning of a month. In Deuteronomy 16:1, we are commanded to “observe the month Abib and Passover.”

Thus, it is necessary to determine which moon/month is the one that produces a harvest ready barley crop that can be used as the Wave Sheaf Offering at the Feast of Unleavened Bread. All of YAHUAH’s Set Apart Feasts are based on the correct identification of that first day of the month Abib.

“This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.” (Exodus 12:2).

The Vernal (spring) Equinox marks the end of winter and the beginning of the agricultural year. It is the season for crops to spring forth from the earth, and the turn of the year (Equinox) that occurs at the end of the 12th month, and is usually March 20th.

The young tender barley shoots were first observed in Yisrael at the middle of March. These early shoots are far too immature to yield a harvest crop and are not ready until several weeks later.

Thus, the appearance of the young tender shoots of barley merely confirms what has already happened in the heavens above. The year begins with the tender shoots and first full day of the New Moon after the Vernal Equinox.

In Summary

Sukkot completes the pilgrim feasts that outline YAHUAH’s plan for His people. These have been brief outline studies that admittedly leave out many details.

However, the intention in this book is show time relations to the calendar along with the purpose of the each feast. Collectively, the feasts are YAHUAH’s plan for gathering His people back to the Promised Land.

The plan’s implementation will surely begin soon with the assembly of remnant Yisrael to the gathering places for the Zion people. The gathering places are unknown at this time, but the called-out-ones will know when the time is according to His timepiece in the heavens above.

A PURSUIT OF PERFECTION

“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48).

A well known teacher in our common Messianic faith once posted this statement on an Internet website:

“Plain and simple, this is Torah: that you obey His Voice. If not, He will not allow you to live in His land. That means that in order to live in His land, you must obey every aspect, commandment, judgment, testimony, instruction, and ordinance from Him. If not, you have chosen death.” (Anon).

Together, all of the writer’s listed aspects are Torah observance in perfection, and his statement is absolutely correct. Death is the certain result of the failure to keep Torah in perfection. We say that we are Torah observant, when we really mean we are Torah submissive.

There is no human capable of fully keeping Torah and the Covenant Will of the Father. Perfect Torah observance is only found in the sacrifice of YAHUAHsha Messiah where our shortfall is covered by the blood of the Lamb that was slain for us.

YAHUAH had to become our salvation through the manifestation of Messiah, first qualifying as an heir, and second, dying to become the seed of Abraham. Thus, able to pass on the inheritance promised to Abraham.

If we really believe that YAHUAHsha is the Word made flesh (Cf. John 1:14), the Living Torah, why not openly express that great truth? It is troubling because true unity is never found under a claim of Torah observance, and not even Torah submissiveness.

True unity is always subject to the person and work of Messiah as the Living Torah. Even the smallest congregation, where two or three are gathered in His Name, will find its unity in Him, but base it on Torah observance without the blood of the Lamb, and it falls apart. Mankind in the flesh runs to evil and does not know the way to peace.

We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men” (Isaiah 59:10).

There is only one way out of this enormous dilemma.

The Word Made Flesh

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.” (John 10:1)

The Master Teacher of Righteousness said that there is only one way to enter into the sheepfold of His salvation. All must enter through the door that He Himself has provided, which is by way of His sacrifice as the Lamb of YAHUAH. It is not through works, not even performing righteous works of the Torah, or any other acts of righteousness.

Yahusha emphatically declared that works of any kind cannot be presented for entrance to YAHUAH’s Kingdom.

“Not every one that says unto me, Rabbi, Rabbi, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in Heaven.

Many will say to Me in that day, Rabbi, Rabbi, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy Name have cast out devils? And in thy Name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” (Mt. 7: 21-23).

Even works that are claimed to be ‘Torah observances’ are really Torah submissive works done in His Name, but even these cannot gain anyone’s salvation. Why is that?

“For whosoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” (James 2:10).

Is imperfect man capable of keeping perfect Torah? The apostle John provides the answer to that question:

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1John 1:8).

“Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the Law (Torah): for sin is the transgression of the Law.” (1 John 3:4).

If we depend on a mindset of works for salvation, then we fight against the power of resurrection. For example, of all the animals offered under the sacrificial laws, not one was resurrected! The animals had to stay dead as a reminder that they were a foreshadowing of the last sacrifice.

Only the last sacrifice was resurrected, and all the animals of the past remained dead. What animal sacrifice foreshadowed has come to pass through the resurrected Yahusha. He has officially taken us from the hardship of the old, and into the new where His resurrection power is in force, and awaiting a people that will finally understand it, and learn to use it correctly.

Are we to be Torah submissive? Yes! Torah submissive is the attitude that recognizes that life is found in “every word that proceeds from the mouth of YAHUAH” (Matthew 4:4), but recognizing that we fall far short of keeping it perfectly.

We are to learn Torah, apply it to our lives as we learn, and submit to all YAHUAH’s expressed word, for the instructions of Torah are still in effect. However, a claim of Torah observance (keeping the Law) is defective, and will be rejected along with the false claim that Torah is canceled.

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17).

“Behold, the days come, says YAHUAH, that I will make a New Covenant with the house of Yisrael, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the Covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my Covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, says YAHUAH: But this shall be the Covenant that I will make with the house of Yisrael; After those days, says YAHUAH, I will put my Law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their Eloah, and they shall be My people.” (Jeremiah 31:31-33).

When we believe what He did for us, Yahusha already accepts us. It does not matter our condition or status in life. He shed His Blood to save us from the judgment that is rightfully ours. He entered the ‘Most Set Apart Place’, to sprinkle His blood at the Mercy Seat one time for all those who will receive His sacrifice. These alone will obtain an undeserved pardon.

Presenting His sacrifice as your sacrifice before the Mercy Seat qualifies you to participate in YAHUAH’s plan and purpose. Where we each fit into His plan is not our business. His purpose is for us to become centered and focused upon the One that gives us entrance, and never let it depart from our mind that it is by the ‘Blood of the Lamb without blemish’.

There is no other way to enter. Attempting entrance in any other manner is a certain death sentence. Failure to understand it does not alter this great truth. What we may think does not matter, because it is YAHUAH’s requirement.

Not anyone can design a plan around it; neither can any condemnation that others may place upon us. If we have entered the sheepfold, we have entered through the door that His blood provides, and He has received us through that blood, and opposition to it cannot change it.

It is given to all who will walk with Him through the redemptive process, the deliverance and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.

If we submit to YAHUAH’s redemptive work in Yahusha, He will accomplish His work in us that will bring us into YAHUAHsha’s full stature of being identical to Him, Who is the image of YAHUAH.

What is full stature? It is beyond our perception, for He is the Word of YAHUAH.

Is the Word of YAHUAH, He is the Sanctified Law, the Torah made flesh. (Cf. John 1:1). Comprehend this awesome truth! Just as He is the Word made flesh, we can actually be conformed, and be made identical to Him.

Grasp this Word of YAHUAH that was made flesh! Which is better for us, to try and be like Him or to just let Him live in and through us? Consider the condensed form of His Word, the Commandments that we are to live by.

The Stones of Testimony

“And He declared unto you His Covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even Ten Commandments; and He wrote them upon two tables of stone.” (Deuteronomy 4:13).

“Take this book of the Law, and put it in the side of the Ark of the Covenant of YAHUAH your Eloah, that it may be there for a witness against thee.” (Deuteronomy 31:26).

Imagine that! Picture it in your mind! The Covenant Stones of Ten Commandments, which were written by the Almighty, inside the Ark of the Covenant under the Atonement Cover with Cherubim facing inward. Together these represent the very foundation of YAHUAH’s throne.

Treated in a much different way, the Torah was placed on the outside of the Ark. It is the book of the Law containing the statutes, ordinances, but also containing the same Ten Commandments written on the Covenant Stones.

The authority for a distinction between the Ten Commandments, written on stone, and the statutes of judicial and ceremonial Law, placed outside of the Ark, was established by YAHUAH Himself. He gave instructions concerning their separate places, and the purpose:

“Take this book of the Law, and put it in the side of the Ark of the Covenant of YAHUAH your Eloah, that it may be there for a witness against thee.” (Deuteronomy 31:26).

Let us highlight the one important aspect of the Ten Commandments that were written on stone and placed inside of the Ark of the Covenant under the Atonement cover. The Decalogue of commands contains no provision for punishment, not having a single command directed toward chastisement or discipline.

That function of Law is reserved to the statutes, civil and judicial law contained in the book attached to the outside of the Ark. It is the basis for a largely misunderstood and almost always misrepresented truth from Scripture.

The Torah, attached to the outside of the Ark of the Covenant, also contains the Ten Commandments. So the Decalogue of Commands is included in the provisions for punishment along with the full Torah. Thus, Torah observance includes keeping the Ten Commandments. There is no avoiding any of the provisions contained in the Torah. It remains there “for a witness against thee.” (Deuteronomy 31:26).

‘Under the curse’ is the penalty for the mutiny of rejecting the Ten Commandments written on the Stones of Testimony. The Torah was written by Moses at YAHUAH’s command for a witness against Yisrael for their rebellion. The penalty finds its fulfillment in anyone, whether the claim is Torah observance or Torah canceled. A claim of either of these places the full burden of Law on the claimant:

“Cursed be he that confirms not all the words of this Law to do them. And all the people shall say, so be it. (Deuteronomy 27:26.)

“For whosoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” (James 2:10).

The Torah has not been canceled. Its purpose remains as “a witness against thee” (Deuteronomy 31:26) and it is clearly not a cancellation of Law, but a statement leading to the provisions for canceling the penalty of Law.

“Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross;” (Colossians 2:14).

The Cancellation

At the precise moment of YAHUAHsha’s death, YAHUAH implemented the provision for an undeserved pardon. The penalty for the past sins of transgressing the Father’s Laws was satisfied by sacrifice, and the undeserved pardon became available to all who become Torah submissive, but turning away from a claim of Torah observance or Torah canceled.

At the instant of Messiah’s death, an event occurred as the Father’s seal of approval and fixed forever:

“And YAHUAHsha cried with a loud voice, and gave up the spirit. And the veil of the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.” (Mark.15:37- 38).

So what was nailed to His stake, and canceled that day as it was marked by the tearing of the veil? Were the Laws, statutes and commandments canceled? Never! The canceling was confined to the penalty for sin that is defined as transgression of Law.

Keep the Commandments

“He that hath my Commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves Me: and he that loves Me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.” (John 14:21).

What does it mean to ‘have His Commandments’? Not only to keep them but to know them. To know them is to memorize them and love them. Teach them to others and speak of them in your home, as you walk, when you go to bed.

“Lay up these My words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.” (Deuteronomy 11:18).

The Covenant Stones of Commandments are the Contract for our righteousness. Keeping them as they were written upon the Covenant Stones restores our Covenant connection to the throne of the Almighty through our High Priest YAHUAHsha Messiah.

This is the most important aspect of our salvation. A claim of Torah observance or Torah canceled will not survive. Our Passover Lamb, Immanuel Messiah, has empowered us to live under His protective sacrifice, and has given us a way to overcome the enemy:

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” (Revelation 12:11).

The End

AN AFTERWORD FROM THE AUTHOR

This booklet is intended to inform and provide the reader with an instrument to better understand our Creator’s calendar of lights in the heavens above. It is my prayer that it will lead to wider knowledge that will ultimately provide the basis for unity among a remnant of a called-out Zion people.

In my ongoing pursuit of YAHUAH’s truth, I have learned that there are those who interpret the heavenly lights much differently. Many claim to be Torah observant, and still others claim that the Set Apart Laws were canceled by Yahusha’s sacrificial death.

Some of these may try to point out my failure to keep all 613 Set Apart Laws I am Torah submissive, but I make no boast of being Torah observant in perfection. I place my shortfall of Torah at the Mercy Seat where it is covered by the blood of YAHUAH’s Lamb and presented on my behalf by Yahusha, my High Priest.

So, I say with all the gentleness that I can muster, those who would condemn me or speak evil of me, I cast their words aside. I will not allow condemnation to gain any ground in me, for I know in whom I have believed. Immanuel has called me and I am fully persuaded that He is able to keep me in the faith that He has brought me into.

Anyone who chooses to come against me can go feed on someone else’s flesh, for mine is already in the grave, buried in Babylon. You see, my real enemy is Draco that Serpent of Old. Therefore, a friend of my enemy is also my enemy, but an enemy of my enemy is my friend.